m  FAIRY  TALE$ 


UC-NRLF 


THOR  OF  "THE  LAST 


FHKI> 


T0/ 


PLEASE   ACCEPT   THIS   FLOWER. 


(Page  J.) 


LIFE'S 

FAIRY  TALES 


BY 


J.  A.  MITCHELL 

H 

Author  of  ' '  The  Last  American  " 


NEW    YORK 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

MDCCCXCII 


r  f  , » e    «          «         e        '  *  %  COPYRIGHT,     1892, 

':  f  . , !  ."-for  FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY. 


PS 


/ 


CONTENTS. 


Drowsy   Village,   .....  I 

Fairy  Bishop,  .  .  .  .  .  n 

Uncle  Rody, 18 

The  Westwind  and  the  Pine,  .  .  .  25 

Stillabel,  .  34 

The  Wedding  That  Wasnt,  .  .  .  39 

The  Pious  Nobleman  and  the  Blind  Horse,  46 

The  Belle  and  the  Seal,  .  .  .  54 
The  Lover,  The  Twelve  Hornets,  and  The 

Enchanted  Garden  of  Zpek,  .  .  61 
Why  the  Ocean  is  Colder  at  Some  Places 

than  at  Others,  .  .  .  .  73 

The  Average  Dog  and  the  Usual  Man,  .  81 

The  Luckless  Prince,  .  .  .  .  86 

The  Adventures  of  Two  Criminals,  ,  *  92 

The  Dissolute  Beetle,  .  .  ,  .  102 
The  Enchanted  Portrait,  .  .  .  .108 

V 

464396 


TO 

M.  H.  M., 

WHOSE   UNFAILING   ENCOURAGEMENT 

IS    LARGELY    RESPONSIBLE   FOR 

THE  EXISTENCE  OF  THESE 

DIMINUTIVE  TALES. 


THE   DROWSY  VILLAGE. 

Jon  was  a  young  man,  of  surpassing 
beauty,  who  went  into  the  world  to  seek  his 
fortune.  The  third  day  of  his  journey 
brought  him  to  the  Village  of  Brotherly 
Love,  an  enormous  settlement  covering 
many  square  miles,  where  he  met  an  acquaint- 


2  THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE. 

ance  ;  and  he  tarried  in  that  colony.  It 
soon  came  to  pass  that  he  was  invited  to 
a  large  party  in  a  patrician  mansion.  He 
forthwith  attired  himself  in  broadcloth  and 
fine  linen,  and  danced  with  the  maidens  and 
properly  disported  himself.  But  while  so 
doing  he  noticed  a  plain  and  somewhat 
elderly  maiden  sitting  disconsolately  against 
the  wall,  receiving  no  attention  either  from 
the  hostess  or  the  guests.  He  spoke  of 
this  to  the  son  of  the  house,  who  an 
swered  : 

"  Oh,  she's  of  no  special  importance." 

"But  she  is  a  guest,"  replied  Jon,  "and 
having  invited  her  to  your  house  you  can 
not  snub  her  !  " 

"  Oh,  yes  we  can  !  "  answered  the  young 
man.  "  We  can  do  more  than  that  in  the 
City  of  Brotherly  Love  !  "  and  he  hurried 
away  for  a  partner. 

Jon  requested  the  hostess,  who  seemed 
amazed  at  his  folly,  to  present  him  to  the 
solitary  damsel.  He  then  danced  with  her, 
and,  after  bringing  rich  patties,  with  salad 
and  other  indigestible  devices  that  are 
never  eaten  at  home,  he  engaged  her  in 
pleasant  converse. 

She  seemed  grateful  for  these  attentions, 


THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE.  3 

and  when  Jon  finally  bade  her  good-night, 
she  handed  him  a  poppy,  saying: 

"  Please  accept  this  flower;  it  possesses 
some  unusual  qualities,  among  others  that  of 
putting  people  to  sleep,  by  simply  waving 
it  in  their  direction.  To  wake  them  you 
must  kiss  the  sleeper.  Good-night."  And 
away  she  went,  leaving  Jon  standing  alone 
with  the  flower.  Down  among  the  petals 
there  seemed  to  be  an  enormous  dewdrop, 
but  when  he  shook  it  off  it  fell  on  the 
marble  pavement  like  a  hard  substance  and 
bounced  up  again,  retaining  its  shape.  Upon 
picking  it  up,  he  found  he  had  between  his 
fingers  a  diamond  of  exceeding  beauty! 
Moreover,  in  its  place  within  the  poppy 
another  had  appeared,  also  of  great  price 
and  astounding  brilliancy.  And  when  that 
in  turn  was  shaken  off,  yet  another  took  its 
place. 

Jon  hurried  home,  and,  in  feverish  haste, 
experimented  with  this  desirable  flower. 
The  first  ten  minutes  resulted  in  a  pint  of 
diamonds.  He  danced  for  joy. 

"  I  am  rich ! "  he  cried,  "  rich  without 
limit!"  The  next  morning  he  distributed 
the  stones  among  his  various  pockets  and 
betook  him  to  a  jeweler. 


4  THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE. 

"  How  much  is  this  worth  ? "  he  asked, 
giving  one  of  them  for  inspection.  The 
jeweler,  after  consulting  with  his  partner, 
said  : 

"  We  will  give  you  two  hundred  dollars 
for  it." 

When  Jon  readily  accepted  this  price  for 
a  five  thousand  dollar  stone,  the  jewelers 
became  suspicious,  but  they  paid  him  the 
money  and  he  went  away.  His  reappear 
ance,  a  few  days  after,  with  other  stones  yet 
more  precious,  and  for  which  he  considered 
any  sum  a  fair  price,  confirmed  the  jewelers 
in  their  worst  surmises,  and  Jon  was  marched 
before  a  judge.  Several  pockets  crammed 
with  priceless  jewels  did  not  allay  suspicion, 
and  he  soon  found  himself  in  jail. 

They  had  allowed  him  to  keep  the  poppy, 
as  no  one  examined  it,  and  no  one  conse 
quently  suspected  its  value. 

On  the  second  day  of  his  imprisonment 
he  remembered  the  other  qualities  of  the 
poppy,  and  straightway  tried  an  experiment. 

When  the  jailer  came  with  his  noonday 
meal,  he  waved  the  magic  flower  toward 
him,  and,  to  his  delight,  the  burly  warden 
closed  his  eyes  and  sank  gently  to  the  stone 
floor  of  the  cell  in  a  peaceful  sleep. 


THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE.  5 

Jon  lost  no  time  in  reaching  the  court 
yard  of  the  jail,  but  an  officer  had  already 
seen  him  and  given  the  alarm.  As  several 
jailers  rushed  toward  him,  he  again  waved 
the  poppy,  this  time  in  every  direction,  and 
lo  !  the  various  guardians  forgot  their  haste 
and  fell  napping  to  the  earth.  Seeing  how 
beautifully  it  worked,  and  noticing  the  cus 
todians  about  the  gate  were  becoming 
alarmed,  he  held  the  poppy  high  in  his  hand, 
and  turning  completely  around,  he  cried  : 

"  Whole  city  go  to  sleep!"  And  the 
whole  city  obeyed. 

Then  he  stepped  leisurely  out  into  the 
street,  where  all  was  quiet  and  reposeful. 
Not  a  being  was  awake.  A  policeman 
stood  leaning  against  a  wall,  but  he  was 
dozing  calmly.  The  driver  and  conductor 
of  a  passing  street  car,  and]all  the  passengers 
within,  were  sound  asleep,  while  the  horses, 
from  force  of  habit,  moved  gently  as  they 
slumbered. 

Jon's  first  thought  was  to  quit  the  city  in 
the  shortest  time,  and  he  sped  rapidly  along. 
Turning  a  corner  he  almost  ran  into  a  stylish 
equipage,  the  footmen,  with  closed  eyelids, 
upon  the  box,  the  horses  lying  flat  upon 
the  pavement.  He  started  as  he  recognized 


THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE, 


THE   WICKED   WIZARD'S   SPELL. 


the  lady  in  the  carriage,  for 
there,  dreaming  peacefully  in 
the  noonday  sun,  reclined  the 
spinster  who  had  given  him 
the  poppy.  For  the  mere 
pleasure  of  kissing,  he  would  have  preferred 
a  younger  maiden,  but  Jon  knew  his  duty. 
Standing  on  the  step  of  the  carriage  he 


THE  DROWSY    VILLAGE. 


m 


8  THE  DROWSY  VILLAGE. 

reached  over  and  planted  a  kiss  upon  her 
cheek.  She  awoke,  and  to  his  surprise, 
her  mature  face  grew  younger  and  more 
beautiful  as  he  gazed  upon  it.  In  amaze 
ment,  he  looked  enraptured  upon  this 
transformation,  for  she  was  now  a  fresh  and 
blooming  damsel  of  scarcely  twenty  sum 
mers.  Blushing,  as  her  eyes  met  his,  she 
explained  that  a  malicious  wizard,  disguised 
as  a  cupid,  had  entered  her  chamber  one 
evening  just  as  she  was  going  to  a  party, 
and  because  she  had  refused  to  marry  his 
son,  changed  her  into  a  withered  spinster, 
so  to  remain  until  some  young  man  should 
voluntarily  kiss  her. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add — this 
being  a  fairy  tale — that  they  at  once  fell 
deeply  in  love  with  each  other.  Jon  kissed 
the  horses,  and,  although  it  came  hard,  he 
also  kissed  the  driver  and  footman.  Then 
he  and  his  charming  bride  were  driven  rapid 
ly  from  the  drowsy  city  and  lived  happily 
together  ever  afterward,  reveling  in  the 
endless  riches  derived  from  the  unfailing 
poppy. 

The  City  of  Brotherly  Love  is  dozing 
still. 


HE    SUDDENLY    FACED    ABOUT   AND  TURNED    HIMSELF    INTO 
A   BISHOP." 


THE  FAIRY  BISHOP. 

Nightley  Hightime  was  a  New  England 
fairy  of  Puritan  descent,  who  preferred  the 
bustle  and  excitement  of  city  life  to  the 
quieter  pleasures  of  the  country.  The  Gold 
en  City  of  Manhattan  being  the  only  set 
tlement  in  America  that  offered  a  metro 
politan  existence,  it  came  about  that  he 
spent  most  of  his  time  there.  One  after 
noon,  as  he  was  floating  aimlessly  down 
Fifth  Avenue,  invisible  to  others,  but  seeing 
everything  himself,  he  noticed  two  beauti 
ful  young  ladies,  who  had  picked  up  a  kitten 
from  a  doorstep.  Each  girl,  after  kissing 
the  kitten  and  pressing  it  against  her  cheek, 
handed  it  to  the  other,  who  fondled  it  in  a 
similar  fashion.  "  That  must  be  fun," 
thought  Nightley.  "  Why  shouldn't  I  be  in 
it  ?  "  So  he  hurried  on  ahead  of  the  beauti 
ful  girls,  and,  alighting  on  a  convenient  door 
step,  transformed  himself  into  a  most  invit 
ing  kitten.  Now,  Nightley  Hightime  was  a 
married  fairy,  and  he  should  not  have  done 
this.  But  retribution  was  close  upon  him, 
for  two  small  boys,  who  were  passing  at  that 
moment,  immediately  tried  to  catch  him,  and 


12  THE  FAIRY  BISHOP. 

failing  in  that  set  their  dog  upon  him.  As 
luck  would  have  it,  there  was  no  place  to  es 
cape,  and  Nightley,  without  reflection,  sped 
nervously  up  some  steps,  the  dog  in  hot 
pursuit.  His  brain  was  even  quicker  than 
his  legs,  and  he  made  a  swift  resolve.  As 
he  reached  the  upper  step,  he  suddenly  faced 
about  and  turned  himself  into  a  bishop. 
The  dog  fell  back,  paralyzed  with  astonish 
ment.  The  awe-stricken  boys  stood  still  for 
an  instant,  then  turned  and  fled.  At  that 
moment  the  door  was  jerked  open  behind 
him  and  a  gentleman  cried  :  "  Get  away, 
you—  -  !  "  but  stopped  short  when  he  saw 
the  bishop. 

"I — I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  stammered  ; 
"  I  thought  I  saw  some  boys  and  a  dog 
chasing " 

"A  kitten,"  said  the  bishop  ;  "  that  was 
myself.  Allow  me  to  enter."  The  as 
tonished  gentleman  followed  him  into  the 
parlor.  "  You  have  saved  my  life,"  said  the 
bishop,  "at  least  that  was  your  intention, 
and  I  desire  to  reward  you.  What  is  your 
dearest  wish  ?  " 

"  Rest  and  peace!  "  exclaimed  the  gentle 
man.  "  I  am  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  and, 
as  such,  I  am  harried  to  death  with  visits 


WHAT    IS   YOUR   DEAREST   WISH?1 


THE   FAIRY  BISHOP.  15 

and  ceremonies.  The  women  adore  me  and 
they  bore  me  to  the  edge  of  madness.  It's 
a  pompous,  wearisome,  empty,  sickening 
life." 

"  So  I  should  suppose,"  said  the  bishop  ; 
"  but  what  career  would  you  prefer?" 

"  I  would  prefer  a  career  in  which  I 
might  be  equally  impressive  without  my 
present  cares." 

"I  see,"  said  the  bishop.  "You  want 
the  fun  without  the  work,  which  is  only 
natural.  Have  you  ever  thought  of  any 
occupation  that  would  satisfy  your  long 
ings  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  gentleman,  with  some 
embarrassment;  "  I  have  thought  I  should 
like  to  be  a  family  coachman." 

"That  is  asking  more  than  you  realize," 
replied  the  bishop.  "You  are  probably 
laboring  under  the  common  delusion  that 
a  family  coachman  is  mentally  inferior  to 
an  Episcopal  clergyman." 

The  gentleman  seemed  surprised. 

"A  family  coachman,"  continued  the 
bishop,  "  must  possess,  in  the  first  place,  at 
least  as  much  tact,  dignity,  and  outward 
respectability.  And,  although  you  may 
not  be  prepared  to  hear  this,  it  requires 


1 6  THE   FAIRY  BISHOP. 

a  much  higher  order  of  intelligence  to  guide 
a  pair  of  horses  with  ease  and  dignity 
through  the  busy  thoroughfares  of  a  crowded 
city  than  to  gallop  through  the  Episcopal  ser 
vice  twice  a  week,  with  no  expression,  to  a 
fashionable  audience  whose  minds  are  upon 
other  matters.  As  to  your  discourses, 
there  are  probably  few  men  in  your  congre 
gation  who  would  care  to  exchange  a  good 
pair  of  horses  for  all  the  sermons  you  are 
likely  to  deliver." 

The  gentleman  seemed  depressed. 
Bishop  Hightime  also  assumed  a  despon 
dent  air,  and  said : 

"  It  might  be  mortifying  to  know  the  exact 
number  of  men  in  one's  congregation  who 
would  rather  exchange  their  parson  than 
lose  a  trusted  coachman.  But  cheer  up," 
he  added,  "  you  saved  my  life  and  you  shall 
have  your  wish." 

And  he  kept  his  promise. 

As  a  driver,  the  gentleman  made  a  bad 
mess  of  it  in  the  beginning,  and  began  to 
realize  the  truth  of  the  bishop's  words,  but 
he  improved  with  practice  and  soon  did 
very  well. 

Others  preachers,  of  course,  became  en- 
vious  of  their  brother's  good  fortune,  and  to 


THE  FAIRY  BISHOP.  17 

this  day  it  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  Night- 
ley  Hightime  to  grant  the  same  privilege  to 
those  clergymen  whose  intelligence  and 
moral  character  make  them  worthy  of  the 
trust. 

So,  whenever  you  see  a  coachman  whose 
intense  respectability  suggests  a  clerical 
origin,  you  will  understand  how  it  came 
about. 


There  once  lived  in  the  Hub  of  the 
Universe  a  man  who  was  the  proprietor  of 
a  heavy  grief,  which  all  came  from  his  only 
son  being  a  crushing  disappointment.  He 
had  the  most  ambitious  plans  for  the  future 
of  this  son;  but  as  the  boy  grew  up  it  be 
came  evident  that  he  was  not  only  with 
out  an  idea  of  his  own,  but  lacked  the 
capacity  of  recognizing  one  should  he  meet 
it  unannounced.  He  seldom  opened  his 
mouth  save  for  the  purposes  of  nourishment. 
As  he  was  rather  handsome,  however,  it 
often  required  time  for  strangers  to  discover 
what  an  ass  he  really  was.  His  father  had 
tried  for  many  years  to  be  proud  of  him, 
but  it  was  an  uphill  struggle  that  wore 
heavily  on  his  spirit. 

One  afternoon  as  some  important  business 
led  the  unhappy  father  toward  a  decanter  in 
the  butler's  pantry,  he  discovered  a  little 


UNCLE  RODY.  19 

mouse  weeping  bitterly  in  a  trap.  The 
prisoner  seemed  entirely  overcome  by  the 
horror  of  his  position. 

"  You  appear  to  be  depressed,"  said  the 
father. 

"  Well  I  may  be  !  "  answered  the  mouse. 
"  I  was  to  be  married  this  afternoon  ;  now 
I  shall  be — murdered  ! "  and  again  he  broke 
down. 

"Well,  such  a  change  of  programme 
must  be  disappointing,"  said  the  unhappy 
father.  "  I  should  be  upset  myself,"  and 
looking  around  to  make  sure  that  no  one 
observed  his  folly,  he  opened  the  cage 
door.  The  mouse  stepped  quickly  out 
and  ran  across  the  floor,  but  stopped 
in  the  doorway  and  said  with  a  polite 
bow  : 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,  a  thousand  times. 
You  have  saved  my  life,  and  I  shall  not  for- 
get  it." 

That  night  the  unhappy  father  went  to 
bed,  thinking  gloomily,  as  was  his  habit, 
upon  the  empty  future  of  his  stupid  son. 
He  slept  but  a  short  time  when  he  was 
awakened  by  an  unusual  sound.  As  he 
opened  his  eyes  he  discovered  two  mice 
upon  the  foot-board  of  his  bed,  singing  in 


20  UNCLE  RODY. 

excellent  time  and    with   much   expression, 
fhis  couplet  : 

Please  accept,  O  benefactor, 

From  a  happy  bride  and  groom, 

Hearty  thanks  for  having  saved  us 
From  an  unrelenting  doom. 

Then,  seeing  he  was  well  awake,  they  sang 
to  a  different  air  and  quicker  time  : 

Turn,  O  turn  your  grief  to  joy  ! 

Call  three  times  for  Uncle  Rocly  ; 
You  will  find  him  just  the  boy, 
Just  the  boy ! 

Then  they  scampered  down  the  foot 
board  and  all  was  still  again. 

This  occurred  for  three  nights.  On  the 
third  night  he  finally  sat  up  in  bed  and 
said,  more  to  gratify  the  mice  than  from 
any  faith  in  their  performance  : 

"  Uncle  Rody  !  Uncle  Rody  !  Uncle 
Rody  !  " 

In  a  moment  there  was  a  violent  scratch 
ing,  then  a  stout  mouse,  rather  past  middle 
age,  clambered  up  the  foot-board.  He  sat 
there  with  his  hands  folded  over  his  stom 
ach,  and  seemed  a  little  out  of  breath. 

"Well,  what  can  I  do  for  you?"  he 
asked. 


UNCLE  RODY. 


"WHAT   CAN    I    DO   FOR   YOU  ?" 

"  Turn  my  grief  to  joy,  if  some  of  your 
friends  have  not  exaggerated  your  abili 
ties." 

"  Nothing  easier,"  said  Uncle  Rody. 
"What  is  your  grief?" 


22  UNCLE  RODY. 

Then  the  unhappy  father  told  him  all 
about  his  son. 

"  I  can  easily  remedy  that,"  said  Uncle 
Rody,  "  if  you  will  only  take  my  advice." 

"  What  is  your  advice  ?  " 

"  Make  your  son  a  physician." 

"A  physician!"  exclaimed  the  father, 
"  why,  he  hasn't  brains  enough  for  a  hod- 
carrier  ! " 

"  No  brains  are  required.  Your  son  has 
a  pompous  manner  and  says  little  ;  a 
combination  that  is  sure  to  impress  a  sick 
man." 

"But  he  could  never  cure  anything  !  " 

"Why  should  he?"  said  Uncle  Rody. 
"  Nature  does  that.  And  when  the  patients 
die  it  is  because  nothing  could  have  saved 
them  ;  "  and  here  he  gave  his  listener  an 
enormous  wink,  out  of  all  proportion  to  his 
diminutive  eye. 

"  But  the  other  physicians,"  said  the 
father;  "they  would  be  sure  to  find  him 
out." 

Uncle  Rody  smiled  wearily. 

"  Are  doctors  of  the  same  school  in  the 
habit  of  denouncing  each  other  ?  Your  son 
can  murder  every  patient  he  treats  and  his 
professional  brothers  will  stand  by  him  to 


UNCLE  RODY.  23 

the  last.     Just  give  it  a  little  thought  and 
you  will  take  rny  advice.     Good-night  !  " 


HIS    FIRST    PATIENT. 


Three  years  later  the  stupid  son  returned 
from  abroad,  after  a  series  of  unintelligent 
studies  in  the  principal  medical  schools  of 
Europe.  His  first  patient  was  an  influential 
lady  who  had  the  whooping  cough.  He 
pronounced  it  quick  consumption.  She  of 
course  believed  him,  and  when  she  recovered 


24  UNCLE  RODY. 

was  so  overcome  by  her  miraculous  escape 
from  this  usually  fatal  disease  that  she 
recommended  him  in  the  most  enthusiastic 
manner  to  all  her  friends.  His  second  great 
success  was  with  a  child  who  had  cramps  in 
the  stomach.  He  treated  him  for  curvature 
of  the  spine,  and  as  the  child  came  out  of  it 
with  an  excellent  figure  the  wealthy  parents 
overwhelmed  him  with  their  gratitude.  His 
reputation  was  now  firmly  established.  He 
became  a  shining  light  in  the  profession, 
and  soon  after  married  a  merchant  princess. 


Far  away  in 
the  Idaho coun- 
••  try,  at  a  place 

where  the  prairie  and  the  forest  meet,  there 
stands  a  lofty  Pine.  Though  surrounded 
by  many  sisters,  all  of  imposing  beauty,  she 
is  easily  the  belle  of  the  neighborhood, 
from  the  richness  of  her  coloring  and  the 
perfect  symmetry  of  her  limbs.  In  earliest 
youth  her  natural  dignity  and  ease  of 
manner  were  the  envy  of  much  older  trees. 

All  pines  have  pleasant  voices,  but  hers 
has  qualities  unknown  to  others.  And 
when  the  Westwind  lingers  among  the 
branches,  there  comes  a  murmuring  music 
that  steals  away  the  senses  and  lulls  the 
listener  to  a  drowsy  ecstasy.  They  were 
great  friends,  this  pine  tree  and  the  West- 


26         THE    WESTWTND  AND   THE  PINE. 

wind.     It    was    breathed    along   the   forest 
that  friendship  was  too  cold  a  name  for  it, 
and  young   pines   would    wink   and    nudge 
each    other    when    they   saw   him    coming. 
Although  the  mighty  traveler  flirted  freely 
with   every    beauty   in    his    path,    the    de 
lays     in     her     vicinity    were 
very    marked,  their  whisper-      ,    ^|; 
ings  often  lasting  until  after  / 
midnight. 


"THE  WHITE  MEN   CAME  AND  DROVE  AWAY  THE  RED  ONES." 

As  time  went  on  the  white  men  came 
and  drove  away  the  red  ones,  and  then,  out 
upon  the  prairie,  a  dozen  miles  away,  they 
began  a  town  beside  the  river.  Then  a 
settler  came  and  built  a  house,  laying  out 
his  farm  close  up  against  the  forest.  He 
fell  upon  the  timber,  slaying  many  trees, 


THE    WEST  WIND   AND    THE  PINE.         27 

until  at  last  he  stood  beside  the  anxious 
belle,  and  sent  his  ax  into  the  trunk.  A 
quiver  as  of  farewell  to  life  sped  upward  to 
her  topmost  boughs.  The  shuddering  mur 
mur  among  her  branches  was  like  a  prayer  for 
pity.  In  response  another  gash  was  opened 
in  the  bark.  But  here  the  Westwind  gently 
fanned  the  chopper's  face  and  besought  him 
to  forego  his  work.  The  only  answer  was 
a  swinging  blow,  and  the  ax  was  nearly 
buried  in  the  quivering  trunk.  At  this  the 
mighty  traveler  felt  within  him  a  force  and 
fury  he  had  never  known  before.  Whirling 
savagely  about  he  threw  himself  against  the 
destroyer  and  commanded  him  to  stop. 
The  man  was  surprised  at  this  cavorting  of 
the  elements,  but  again  he  raised  his  ax, 
and  again  the  steel  struck  deep  into  the 
yellow  wood.  With  an  angry  cry  some 
thing  like  a  wail,  but  more  like  a  roar,  the 
Westwind  wheeled  about  and  swept  across 
the  plain.  He  loosened  the  roof  of  the 
chopper's  dwelling  as  he  hurried  by  and 
scattered  his  fence  rails  far  and  near. 
Drawing  himself  together  to  occupy  as  little 
space  as  possible,  he  bounded  with  unheard 
of  leaps  over  the  prairie  and  across  the  river, 
past  the  town  and  out  into  the  open  country. 


28 


THE    WEST  WIND   AND    THE  PINE. 


Then  he  circled 
savagely  about, 
and  rearing 
himself  aloft 
for  hundreds  of 
feet  in  a  whirl 
ing,  tumultu 
ous  tempest, 
darkening  the 
earth,  until  it 
seemed  as  if 
the  night  had 
come,  he  start 
ed  on  his  er 
rand.  Unearth 
ly  were  the 
shrieks  of  the 
rushing  air. 

Rising  high 
into  the  clouds, 
he  fell  like  a 
thunderbolt 
upon  the  earth, 
and  it  quivered 
beneath  the 
shock.  With 
irregular,  gi 
gantic,  fright 
ful  bounds  he 


'THE   AIR  WAS    LADEN   WITH   PROMINENT   CITIZENS." 


THE    WEST  WIND   AND    THE  PINE.        31 


rushed  toward  the  startled  town,  which,  lying 
in  his  path,  he  hurled  in  splinters  about  the 
prairie.  The  mayor  was  landed  behind  a 
stable  nearly  a  mile  from  where  the  cyclone 
struck  him.  For  a  brief  period  the  air  was 
laden  with  prominent  citizens.  A  railway 
train,  just  entering  the  town  and  bearing 
some  well  known  capitalists  from  the  East, 


32         THE    WESTWIND  AND    THE  PINE. 

rose  bodily  from  the  bridge,  then  plunged  in 
to  the  river's  mud.  But  these  were  details  in 
which  the  Westwind  took  little  interest,  and 
they  caused  him  no  delay.  With  one  more 
bound  he  was  half  way  from  the  splintered 
city  to  the  forest.  The  farmer,  who  had  long 
since  dropped  his  ax,  now  scurried  toward 
his  house,  believing,  correctly,  the  day  of 
reckoning  had  come.  Before  his  eyes,  as  he 
ran,  the  house  and  family,  the  outbuildings, 
fences,  cattle,  carts,  and  hens,  all  shot  into 


THE   SURPRISE   ON    EAGLE    MOUNTAIN. 

the  air,  like  water  up  a  fountain.  A  second 
later  the  whirlwind  caught  him.  Of  his 
sensations  there  is  no  record ;  of  the  rate 
at  which  he  traveled,  or  the  length  of  his 


THE    WEST  WIND  AND    THE  PINE.        33 

journey,  there  is  no  human  knowledge.  It 
is  believed  by  those  who  loved  him  that 
he  went  straight  to  heaven.  If  so,  he 
entered  in  his  stocking  feet,  as  one  boot 
went  flying  through  the  window  of  a  school 
house  fifteen  miles  away,  and  the  other 
was  discovered  on  the  summit  of  Eagle 
mountain. 

Time  has  covered  over  the  gashes  in  the 
Pine.  If  you  lie  upon  the  brown  carpet  at 
her  feet  she  will  tell  you  the  story,  while 
the  Westwind,  who  is  sure  to  be  fooling 
among  the  branches,  murmurs  a  protest 
against  figuring  as  a  hero. 


STILLABEL. 

Stillabel  was  a  charming  maiden  of  some 
thirty  summers,  who  had  the  pleasure  of  be 
ing  passionately  loved  by  an  elderly  gentle 
man  with  twinkling  eyes  and  a  wide-awake 
mustache.  She  returned  his  love,  but  her 
parents  refused  to  give  their  consent  to  the 
marriage  on  account  of  the  suitor's  age,  for 
Mr.  Chipper  Greylock  had  left  sixty-five 
birthdays  well  behind  him.  Now  it  hap 
pened  that  Stillabel  was  godchild  to  an  en- 

34 


STILLABELL.  35 

terprising  and  somewhat  enthusiastic  fairy, 
who,  when  she  learned  the  state  of  affairs, 
resolved  to  be  of  some  assistance  in  the 
matter.  So  she  flew  into  Mr.  Greylock's 
window  one  sultry  night,  and,  tapping  him 
on  the  forehead  as  he  slept,  pronounced  cer 
tain  mysterious  words,  at  the  same  time 
blowing  an  enchanted  powder  up  his  nose. 
And  lo!  when  he  awoke  the  next  morning 
he  was  thirty-five  years  younger  than  when 
he  went  to  bed  the  night  before.  Taking 
off  that  thirty-five  years  was  where  the  en 
terprising  godmother  made  a  grave  mistake, 
for  Chipper  Greylock  had  always  felt  his 
youth,  even  at  sixty-five,  and  now  that  he 
was  thirty  he  had  all  the  dash  and  friskiness 
of  a  lad  of  twenty.  He  became  at  once  a 
tremendous  favorite  with  the  girls,  and 
poor  Stillabel  soon  saw,  with  a  heavy  heart, 
that  the  boyish  Chipper  was  not  the  man  to 
wed  a  woman  of  thirty.  And  even  before 
the  year  was  out  he  had  taken  to  himself  a 
blooming  bride  of  some  nineteen  summers. 
All  this  occurred  before  the  enterprising 
fairy  realized  her  folly.  Although  she  was 
very  angry  with  the  merry  Chipper,  she  saw 
it  would  never  do  to  make  him  an  old  man 
again,  as  his  youthful  bride  had  done  noth- 


CHIPPER    BECOMES   YOUNG    AGAIN. 


ing  to  deserve  such  a  punishment.  Poor 
Stillabel  began  to  fade  away — and  it  was 
very  evident  to  the  enterprising  fairy  that 
she  was  dying  of  a  broken  heart. 


STILLABEL. 


37 


She  was  powerless  to  save  her,  particularly 
as  Stillabel  insisted  upon  dying,  now  that 
she  had  nothing  to  live  for.  She  freely  for- 


^  THE  BROKEN   HEARTED   STILLABEL. 

gave  the  cruel  Chipper,  and  her  dying  re 
quest  was  that  she  might  become  a  beauti 
ful  rose,  and  blossom  forever  beneath  the 
window  of  the  faithless  lover.  This,  of 


38  STILLABEL. 

course,  was  granted  by  her  godmother;  but 
after  poor  Stillabel's  death  she  could  not  re 
sist  the  temptation  of  stealing  again  into 
the  sleeping  Chipper's  bedroom  at  dead  of 
night  and  again  blowing  a  powder  up  his 
unconscious  nose.  This  time  it  was  no 
elixir  for  renewing  youth,  but  an  enchanted 
essence  from  the  rose  itself,  and  the  distress 
it  wrought  on  Mr.  Greylock  was  dire  and 
long  drawn  out. 

Chipper  loves  this  rose  and  admires  its 
beauty,  but  every  June,  for  then  is  the  anni 
versary  of  his  wedding,  the  fragrance  of  the 
flower  gives  him  a  violent,  malicious,  and 
most  undignified  cold  in  the  head  which 
nothing  can  cure,  and  which  clings  to  him 
until  it  is  ready  to  leave.  His  swollen  nose 
and  dewy  eyes  make  life  a  burden.  He 
feels  again  like  a  very  old  man,  but  ten  times 
older  than  ever  before. 

And  thus  it  affects  many  others  who  are 
faithless  in  their  loves,  for  it  has  spread 
about  the  land  and  blossoms  everywhere. 

So  the  gentle  Stillabel  remains  forever  a 
thing  of  beauty  and  a  warning  to  the  wicked. 
There  are,  and  of  course  always  will  be,  vic 
tims  of  the  rose  who  protest  their  inno 
cence,  but  the  guilty  were  ever  thus. 


THE 

WEDDING 
THAT 

WASN'T. 

^ :  j 

YEAR  or  two  ago 
there  lived  in  Con- 
/  necticut  a  man  so 
superior  that  in  his  pres 
ence  all  nature  was  ill 
Lat  ease.  Birds  were 
ashamed  of  their  friv 
olity  and  hid  their  heads  when  they 
saw  him  coming.  Dogs  blushed  for  their 
aimless  lives.  It  is  reported  that  a  pair  of 
horses  once  tendered  him  an  apology  for 
not  joining  the  church.  He  never  touched 
alcohol  or  tobacco,  or  said  foolish  things, 
or  rested  his  elbows  on  the  table,  or  played 
cards,  or  used  slang  expressions.  He  never 
encouraged  anybody  in  anything  for  fear 
they  might  sin  in  doing  it.  When  he  smiled 

39 


40          THE    WEDDING    THAT    WASN'T. 

it  was  with  one  side  of  his  mouth  at  a  time. 
Having  no  faults  he  was  detested  by  all 
who  knew  him,  but  as  no  one  dared  confess 
this,  each  supposed  the  others  loved  him. 
Of  course  he  was  wealthy.  The  gentle 
maiden  he  was  to  marry  also  detested  him, 
but  without  fully  realizing  it,  for  she  had 
been  repeatedly  congratulated  by  her  par 
ents  on  her  good  fortune  in  securing  the 
love  of  such  a  perfect  man,  and  she  was 
too  well  brought  up  to  doubt  their  state 
ments. 

When  the  wedding  day  arrived  every  pew 
in  the  village  church  was  full. 

Now,  it  happened  all  by  chance  that  Mr. 
Pinfeather  Presto,  a  fairy  of  American  par 
entage,  was  floating  lazily  along  beneath 
the  village  elms  that  morning,  disguised 
as  a  blue-bottle  fly.  When  he  neared  the 
church,  he  saw  at  once  some  wedding  was 
afoot,  and  he  said  to  himself,  "  Here's  for 
a  look  at  her.  I  always  did  love  a  bride!" 
and  he  sailed  boldly  through  the  open  door. 
Flying  straight  over  the  heads  of  the  people 
until  he  was  well  in  front,  he  looked  about 
and  then  sat  himself  on  the  chancel  rail. 
The  great  organ  was  pouring  forth  a  wed 
ding  march,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  eagerly 


THE    WEDDING    THAT   WASN'T.         4* 

toward  the  entering  bride.  She  was  pretty, 
but  very  pale,  and  it  seemed  to  Mr.  Pin- 
feather  Presto  that,  were  it  not  for  her 
father's  arm,  she  would  have  sunk  to  the 
floor.  A  glance  at  the  groom,  and  he 
recognized  at  once  the  Perfect  Man.  "  That 
explains  it !  "  he  muttered  angrily.  "  He'll 
nag  her  to  death  with  his  beastly  goodness, 
and  she  knows  it  ?  " 

As  his  eyes  fell  again  upon  her  un 
happy  face,  his  soul  revolted  at  the 
sacrifice.  "  It's  a  shame!"  he  muttered; 
"  and  what's  more,  I'll  stop  it  !  Then,  act 
ing  upon  a  quick  resolve  he  buzzed  away  to 
a  distant  corner  of  the  church,  and  dis 
appeared  behind  a  column.  In  less  than 
twenty  seconds  he  emerged,  this  time  as  a 
beautiful  golden  haired  boy,  just  big  enough 
to  run  about.  The  clergyman  had  begun 
the  ceremony,  and  there  was  a  solemn  hush 
upon  the  congregation.  Suddenly  all  ears 
were  startled  by  a  child's  voice,  and  all  eyes 
were  turned  upon  the  beautiful  boy  as  he 
ran  swiftly  up  the  aisle.  Then  the  Perfect 
Man  felt  a  pair  of  chubby  arms  clasped 
tightly  about  his  knees,  and  heard  in  a  clear 
voice  that  penetrated  every  corner  of  the 
church  : 


THE    WEDDING    THAT    WASN'T. 


"00   MUSTN'T   HAVE   ANUZZER  WIFE! 


"Papa, 

mamma 
says  o  o 
mustn't 
have  anuz- 
%fa  zer  wife!" 

A  thrill 
of  horror 
gfe  swept  over 
..;•/  the  congre 
gation.  The 
bride  swooned  dead 
away  and  hung  limp 
in  her  father's  arms. 
The  Perfect  Man 
pushed  rudely  away 
the  beautiful  boy, 
and  his  own  sur 
prise  and  horror 
were  taken  for  the  embar 
rassment  he  would  natur 
ally  display  at  the  dis 
covery  of  his  guilt.  All 
was  tumult  and  confusion 
among  the  assembled 
friends,  who  quickly  left 
the  church  to  talk  it  over 
in  each  others'  houses. 


THE  BRIDE   SWOONED    DEAD   AWAY.1 


THE    WEDDING    THAT    WASN'T.         45 

A  more  enjoyable  horror  was  never  experi 
enced  in  that  particular  village. 

The  maiden  afterward  married  the  faulty 
young  man  she  really  loved,  and  they  are 
still  living  happily  together. 

The  beautiful  boy  was  never  seen  again, 
and  to  this  day  is  believed  to  have  been 
murdered  by  his  father,  who  finally  drowned 
himself  to  escape  the  contempt  of  his  neigh 
bors. 


THE  PIOUS    NOBLEMAN  AND   THE 
BLIND    HORSE. 

Many  years  ago,  in  a  distant  country, 
there  lived  a  nobleman  who  was  an  enthusi 
astic  Christian.  As  no  single  creed  could 
satisfy  his  religious  cravings  he  became  a 
strong  Presbyterian,  a  violent  Baptist,  a 
46 


PIOUS  NOBLEMAN  AND  BLIND  HORSE.      47 

burning  Catholic,  a  complicated  Episcopa 
lian,  and  the  loudest  of  Methodists,  all  at 
the  same  time.  Of  course  there  were  tech 
nical  difficulties  in  being  so  many  things  at 
once,  particularly  as  the  various  creeds  all 
give  the  lie  direct  to  one  another  ;  but  the 
Pious  Nobleman  was  not  the  man  to  be 
thwarted  by  trifles.  During  the  forenoon 
he  would  be,  for  instance,  a  Reformed 
Dutchman  :  and  in  the  afternoon  abandon 
himself  to  the  delights  of  Calvinism.  What 
ever  he  was  at  the  time,  he  despised  all  the 
others,  like  a  good  Christian. 

Now  the  Pious  Nobleman  was  very  proud 
of  a  beautiful  high-stepping  gray  horse,  for 
which  he  had  paid  a  thousand  gold  pieces. 
One  morning,  as  he  was  riding  to  church, 
the  gray  horse  kept  on  the  Presbyterian 
highway  instead  of  turning  down  the  road 
that  led  to  the  Baptist  temple.  This  of 
course  was  no  fault  of  the  horse,  but  it 
happened  to  annoy  the  nobleman,  who 
poured  forth  a  torrent  of  oaths  and  slashed 
him  so  fiercely  over  the  head  that  he  de 
stroyed  the  sight  of  one  eye.  An  inflamma 
tion  set  in  which  affected  both  eyes,  and 
the  gray  horse  became  hopelessly  blind. 
The  Pious  Nobleman,  being  a  tender-hearted 


4$      PTO US  NOBLEMAN  AND  BLIND  HORSE. 


A    NEW    STYLE    IN    BRIDLES. 


man,  was  sorry  for  this,  as  it  lessened  the 
value  of  the  animal  and  the  eyes  were  un 
pleasant  to  look  at. 


PIO  US  NOBLE  MA  N  A  ND  BLIND  HORSE       49 

He  also  remembered  the  thousand  gold 
pieces. 

But  on  the  following  Sunday,  while  at 
tending  service  at  the  Episcopal  chapel,  he 
was  struck  by  a  clever  idea  which  he  at  once 
carried  out.  Two  leather  slabs  were  so  con 
structed,  one  on  each  side  of  the  bridle,  as 
to  cover  the  horse's  eyes.  They  were  not 
very  pretty  to  look  at,  and  of  course  were 
unpleasant  to  wear ;  but  with  the  addition 
of  his  crest  and  initials  in  silver,  they  passed 
for  a  new  style  in  harness,  and  at  once  be 
came  the  fashion. 

He  heard,  about  this  time,  that  a  neigh 
boring  widow  wished  to  purchase  a  horse. 
So  one  morning  while  in  an  orthodox  frame 
of  mind  he  interviewed  her  coachman,  and, 
placing  fifty  gold  pieces  in  his  hand, 
said : 

"  Fifty  more  shall  come  to  you  if  your 
mistress  buys  the  gray  horse." 

The  next  morning,  after  a  short  prayer 
before  an  expensive  altar  in  the  Catholic 
cathedral,  he  drove  the  gray  charger  to  the 
widow's  mansion,  and  when  he  returned  the 
unsuspecting  lady  retained  the  horse,  and 
the  Enthusiastic  Christian  had  fifteen  hun 
dred  gold  pieces  in  his  pocket. 


PIOUS  NOBLEMAN  AND  BLIND  HORSE. 


•'  FIFTY  MORE  SHALL  COME  TO  YOU  IF  YOUR  MISTRESS  BUYS  THE  GRAY  HORSE." 

He  realized  with  a  grateful  spirit  his  in 
strumentality   in    enabling   an    unprotected 


THE  COACHMAN  INFORMS  THE  WIDOW  OF  HER  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY. 


PIO  US  NOBLE  MA  N  A  ND  BLIND  HOR  SE.      5  3 

widow  to  possess  that  priceless  knowledge 
which  is  only  acquired  by  experience. 

This  Pious  Nobleman  has  been  dead  for 
many  years  ;  but  if  you  should  ever  visit  that 
extraordinary  country,  you  will  find  they 
still  blind  their  horses  with  pieces  of  leather, 
no  matter  how  good  their  eyes  are. 


THE  BELLE  AND  THE  SEAL. 

Once  upon  a  time  a  beautiful  steamer 
was  crossing  the  Atlantic  Ocean  at  such  a 
terrifying  speed  that  one  of  the  passengers 
said,  in  alarm,  to  the  captain  : 

"  Isn't  it  dangerous  to  go  so  fast  ?  " 

"  Not  for  us,"  said  the  captain  with  a 
knowing  wink,  as  the  bow  of  the  steamer 
crashed  through  a  fishing  smack.  And  he 
looked  merrily  aloft  that  he  might  not  see 
the  fishermen  as  they  struggled  about  in 
the  sea,  crying  aloud  for  help.  Every  life 
saved  meant  so  many  minutes  lost,  and  the 
captain  was  a  wise  man  and  knew  his  business. 
But  that  night  the  beautiful  steamer  shot 
with  a  resounding  crash  into  a  still  more  beau 
tiful  iceberg,  and  sank  with  graceful  undula 
tions  to  the  deep  down  bottom  of  the  sea. 

Of  all  the  passengers  only  one  was  saved, 
and  that  was  a  Society  Belle,  who  was 
thrown  half  awake  upon  the  glittering  ice. 
She  was  not  hurt,  but  she  found  it  very 
chilly,  as  her  only  clothing  consisted  of  a 
single  garment,  white  and  cool,  but  with  no 
particular  fit.  To  keep  herself  from  freez 
ing  she  started  off  at  a  swift  run  along  the 

54 


THE   BELLE   AND   THE    SEAL. 


55 


topofthe 
iceberg. 
She    had 
not  gone 
far  when 
she    ob 
served  in 
the      bright 
moonlight   a 
j        large  seal,  sitting 
-   comfortably  upon  a 
block    of    ice,  hum 
ming   a    love    song    to 
himself.       When      the 
seal     espied      her      he 
arose,      and,       bowing 
gracefully,    said: 

"  Good-evening,  madam  ;  please  take  my 
seat." 


'OF   ALL  THE  PASSENGERS  ONLY 
ONE   WAS    SAVED." 


THE   BELLE   AND   THE   SEAL. 


11  Thank  you,"  she  said  ;  u  but  if  I  do  I 
shall  freeze,  as  I  have  nothing  on  but— 
here  she  blushed  and  added  to  herself,  "  How 
silly  to  be  embarrassed.     He  is  only  a  seal." 
But  the  seal  was  already  fumbling  at  his 
throat  and  began  to  unbutton  his  magnifi 
cent  overcoat.     She  regarded  him  in  amaze 
ment  and  exclaimed: 
"Does  it  come  off?" 

"  Everything    comes    off,"  he    answered, 

"  from  a  baptism 
to  a  burial,"  and 
gallantly   remov 
ing  it,  he   threw 
the  heavy  gar 
ment  over  her 
shoulders.  The 
\  ~'    additional 
warmth    was 
welcome,  and 
although   ac 
customed   to 
fashionable 
life,    and     to 
appearing    par 
tially  clad  in  the 


"  THE   ADDITIONAL   WARMTH   WAS 

WELCOME." 


tlemen,  she  felt 


THE  BELLE   AND   THE   SEAL.  57 

more  at  ease  than  before.  After  they  had 
sat  for  a  time  and  conversed  upon  food  and 
clothes  and  other  fashionable  topics,  she  be 
came  despondent  and  asked  the  seal  if  they 
could  ever  leave  the  iceberg  alive. 

"  That  depends  entirely  upon  you,"  he 
answered.  "  If  you  consent  to  marry  me 
we  shall  be  rescued  at  once.  Otherwise  we 
perish." 

"  Marry  a  seal  !  "  exclaimed  the  Society 
Belle,  "  who  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing?  " 

"  But  I  am  more  than  a  seal.  I  am  a  seal 
with  a  whole  coat  of  arms  and  a  crest.  You 
behold  in  me  a  prince." 

"  So  much  the  worse,"  said  she.  "  I 
should  hate  to  live  in  poverty." 

"  I  am  not  the  usual  prince  of  commerce. 
I  am  wealthy." 

"  Oh,  well,  that's  different ;  but  what  sort 
of  a  man  are  you  when  you  are  not  a  seal  ?  "" 

"  I  am  a  widower,"  he  answered.  "  I  was 
turned  into  a  seal  because  I  murdered  my 
wife.  I  am  a  great  club  man  and  very 
sporty,  rather  brutal  perhaps  at  times,  but 
that  is  only  when  I  am  sober.  And  I  play 
ecarte  like  an  angel ;  also  baccarat.  In  fact, 
I  am  just  the  sort  of  a  man  the  average 
maiden  falls  in  love  with  at  first  sight." 


•J 


"THEY   FOUND  THEMSELVES   UPON  A  BEAUTIFUL  YACHT." 


60  THE   BELLE   AND   THE   SEAL. 

"  How  interesting !  "  exclaimed  the 
Society  Belle.  "  I  love  you  already.  Take 
me.  I  am  yours." 

And  even  as  she  spoke  the  iceberg  began 
to  change  its  shape,  becoming  narrower,  like 
the  deck  of  a  steamer,  and  in  another 
moment  they  found  themselves  upon  a 
beautiful  yacht,  steaming  rapidly  for 
Europe.  The  prince,  who  was  a  handsome, 
dissipated  looking  man,  with  good  features 
and  no  expression,  stood  proudly  beside  the 
belle  and  clasped  her  to  his  chest. 

They  soon  reached  land,  where  they  were 
married  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony,  and 
lived  unhappily  ever  afterward. 


Jonathan  was  beloved  of  Dorothy  and 
Dorothy  was  the  girl  who  occupied  the 
whole  of  Jonathan's  heart.  But  marriage 
was  not  for  them,  as  they  were  both  too 
poor.  No  one  else  in  the  little  village 
having  been  sanctified  by  wealth  they  failed 
to  realize  the  vulgarity  and  sinfulness  of 
poverty.  Jonathan,  however,  knew  there 
were  innumerable  dollars  in  the  outside 
world  and  he  decided  to  try  and  gather  a 
few.  So  when  he  was  twenty-one  he  said 
good-by  to  his  family  and  friends,  and  there 
was  a  sad  parting  with  the  tearful  Dorothy. 
He  tried  hard  to  persuade  her  that  it  was 
all  for  the  best.  "  I  don't  believe  in  waiting 
for  Fortune  to  begin  the  flirtation,"  he  said; 
"  she  doesn't  seem  to  be  headin'  for  this  vil 
lage,  and,  if  the  old  girl's  got  anything  forme, 
I'll  jest  hunt  her  up  and  give  her  a  show." 


62 


THE  LOVER. 


THE  DEPARTURE  OF  JONATHAN. 

And  away  he  went. 

Dorothy  never  realized  until  after  his 
departure  what  a  vast  gap  he  filled  in  nature. 
She  now  saw  how  foolish  and  incomplete 
creation  was  without  him. 

As  for  Jonathan  he  tramped  patiently 
along  for  about  a  week  until  he  came  to  the 
suburbs  of  a  tremendous  city.  As  he  passed 
along  he  was  surprised  to  see  twelve  aristo 
cratic  young  gentlemen  sitting  upon  a  curb 
stone.  Some  were  weeping,  some  were 
cursing,  and  some  were  despairing  silently. 
All  being  fashionably  dressed  and  seemingly 
prosperous,  his  curiosity  was  aroused  and 
he  said  to  them: 


THE   LOVER.  63 

"What's  the  row?" 

"  Mind  your  own  business,  Country,"  an 
swered  one  of  the  youths,  and  they  all 
frowned  upon  him  as  if  annoyed  by  his  pre 
sumption.  Jonathan  said  nothing,  and  con 
tinued  his  journey  into  the  city.  As  it  was 


THE    MELANCHOLY     SWELLS. 

now  about  noontime,  he  sat  upon  a  bench 
in  the  park  to  eat  his  dinner.  He  had  just 
begun  the  frugal  meal  when  he  was  joined 
by  twelve  hornets  who  also  sat  on  the  seat 
beside  him.  They  seemed  a  friendly  band 
and  soon  opened  a  conversation.  Jonathan 
found  them  intelligent  and  well-bred  hor 
nets.  He  gave  them  some  of  the  maple 
sugar  he  was  eating  and  they  relished  it  and 
partook  very  freely. 


64  THE    TWELVE   HORNETS, 

"  I  never  tasted  such  maple  sugar,"  said 
Ohlstingum,  the  leader,  "  and  we  are  much 
indebted  to  you.  If  we  can  serve  you  in 
any  way,  let  us  know." 

Just  then  another  group  of  young  men, 
fashionably  dressed  but  broken-hearted, 
came  walking  by.  Then  Jonathan  said  to 
the  hornets  : 

"  Can  you  tell  me  why  the  young  men  in 
this  town  are  so  sorrowful  ?  " 

"  Why,  haven't  you  heard  of  Para  Liza  ?" 
exclaimed  all  the  hornets  in  surprise.  Then 
Ohlstingum  told  him  of  the  beautiful  damsel 
whose  spell  no  mortal  could  resist.  To  see 
her  was  to  love  her,  and  the  coolest  heads 
were  intoxicated  by  a  single  glance  from  her 
eyes  or  the  first  words  from  her  tongue. 

"  But  no  man  can  marry  her,"  said  Ofne 
Hottend,  one  of  the  younger  hornets,  "  un 
less  he  brings  her  a  fortune  from  the  en 
chanted  Garden  of  Zpek.  And  here  she 
comes  now,  with  her  father,  the  haughty 
banker  !  Don't  look  that  way  or  you  may 
fall  beneath  the  spell!  " 

But  Jonathan  had  already  looked.  His 
senses  reeled  and  wavered  in  a  drunken  ec 
stasy  as  he  gazed  upon  her  face.  He  arose 
and  stood  before,  her.  When  her  eyes  met 


THE    TWELVE  HORNETS. 


his — and  her  eyes  were  limpid  lakes  of  pas 
sion  that  meant  a  thousand  things  no  words 
could  utter — his  soul  was  flooded  with  their 
beauty.  He  felt  within 
him  the  kindling  of 
consuming  fires  whose 
torture  was  a  burning 


JONATHAN    SUCCUMBS. 


joy.  Almost  involuntarily  he  threw  himself 
upon  his  knees  and  had  begun  an  excited 
declaration  of  his  love,  when  the  haughty 
banker  interrupted  him  : 

"  Say  no  more,  young  man.  He  who 
weds  my  daughter  must  first  bring  a  fortune 
from  the  Garden  of  Zpek." 

Then  he   led  her  away.     But  she  turned 


66  THE    TWELVE  HORNETS. 

and  gave  Jonathan  a  glance  that  sent  hot 
thrills  a-coursing  diagonally  up  his  spine. 
The  father  and  daughter  disappeared  around 
a  turn  in  the  walk  leaving  him  upon  his 
knees  in  the  gravel,  the  hot  thrill  dying 
gently  away  among  the  roots  of  his  hair. 

He  was  recalled  to  himself  and  his  un 
dignified  position  by  a  suppressed  chuckle 
from  the  hornets. 

"  You  must  pardon  our  levity,"  said 
Ohlstingum,  "  but  not  being  human  it  is 
difficult  for  us  to  thoroughly  appreciate  your 
position  and  feelings.  That  the  old  gentle 
man  should  insist  upon  the  fortune  is  only 
natural,  as  his  finances  are  a  little  dizzy  just 
at  present." 

"Very  likely,"  replied  Jonathan,  "but  I 
shall  believe  no  ill  of  the  daughter.  Good- 
by."' 

"Where  away?"  cried  all  the  hornets. 

"To  the  enchanted  Garden  of  Zpek,"  said 
Jonathan,  and  he  started  off.  But  the  hor 
nets  flew  after  him  and  kept  him  company, 
exhorting  him  to  throw  aside  his  folly. 
They  assured  him  that  where  one  succeeded 
hundreds  failed  ;  that  if  the  fever  of  Zpek 
once  seized  upon  him  he  would  never  re 
cover;  that  the  soil  of  the  garden  was  rich 


THE    TWELVE   HORNETS.  67 

with  the  blood  of  its  victims.  But  Jona 
than's  brain  was  dancing  with  a  woman's 
beauty  and  he  had  no  use  for  reason,  or  for 
hornets. 

"  Then  let  us  go  with  you,"  said  Offie 
Hottend.  "  I  was  a  broker  once  and  we 
can  give  you  points.  And,  when  hornets 
give  points,  it  means  business,"  and  he 
chuckled  at  his  little  joke. 

Dorothy  about  this  time  was  very  blue. 
She  was  beginning  to  realize  the  possibility 
of  Jonathan's  loving  some  woman  more 
beautiful  than  herself,  and  she  shed  silent 
tears  upon  the  flowers  as  she  watered  them. 
Also,  one  or  two  fell  from  her  lashes  into  the 
piecrust  she  was  kneading  in  the  kitchen. 

Jonathan,  on  the  following  morning, 
traveled  two  miles  southward  through  the 
great  city  to  the  enchanted  regions  of  Zpek. 
But  on  arriving  he  felt  very  much  like  turn 
ing  back,  for  the  garden  was  filled  with  bulls 
and  bears  and  shouting  men,  all  crazy  with 
excitement.  About  him  the  ground  was 
thickly  strewn  with  bones  of  innumerable 
victims,  but  he  boldly  started  in.  Bleating 
lambs  frisked  gaily  by  him,  hurrying  to  their 
doom,  and,  later  on,  their  plaintive  bah-bahs 
pierced  his  soul  as  they  yielded  up  their 


68      THE  ENCHANTED  GARDEN  OF  ZPEK. 

fleeces.  Wild,  shabby  looking  men,  who 
had  lost  all  they  once  possessed,  were 
hurrying  aimlessly  about,  having  nothing  to 
plant,  but  fascinated  by  the  excitement  of 
the  garden.  The  trusty  hornets  guided  him 
to  a  spot  where  the  soil  seemed  promising, 
and  there  he  planted  the  only  gold  piece  he 
possessed.  Within  a  minute  it  began  to 
sprout.  He  watched  it  in  a  fever  of  anxiety. 
Up  it  grew  and  soon  began  to  throw  out 
little  white  rectangular  leaves.  These  leaves 
were  covered  with  cabalistic  inscriptions 
which  enabled  the  owner  to  transform  them 
into  gold  at  his  pleasure.  Noisy  bulls  and 
bears  tried  hard  to  interfere,  and  more  than 
once  he  thought  the  enterprise  was  ruined, 
but  the  hornets  always  diverted  them  by 
skillful  applications  of  their  cruel  weapons. 
Swiftly  grew  the  plant  and  many  were  the 
leaves.  At  the  proper  moment,  when  they 
were  fully  developed  and  would  lose  their 
value  if  left  longer  on  the  branches,  Jona 
than  plucked  them  all  and  hastened  from 
the  garden.  Some  bears  came  very  near 
upsetting  him,  but  the  faithful  hornets  again 
saved  the  treasure  by  their  hot  attentions. 
The  shorn  lambs  and  half-demented  men  who 
hovered  around  the  outskirts  of  the  garden 


THE  ENCHANTED  GARDEN  OF  ZPEK.      69 


looked  enviously  upon  him  as  he  hurried 
away,  his  hands  and  pockets  filled  with  the 
gold-bearing  leaves.  Jonathan  was  now 
enormously  rich. 

Although  he  marched  swifty  along,  accom 
panied  by  Ohlstingum  and  the  other  hornets, 
the    news    of    his    great 
luck  traveled  faster  still. 
When  he 

'iji1  |  reached      the 

upper  part  of 


''liil'i.  i'M1./'1- 
.Mj&uJ'  [I-      .,.   Ifefe 


THE    BANKER    BAFFLED. 


the  city  he  saw  the  wealthy  banker,  his  daz 
zling  daughter  by  his  side,  standing  on  the 
marble  steps  of  his  mansion.  The  scornful 
expression  had  left  his  mouth  and  in  its  place 
was  a  welcoming  smile. 


70      THE  ENCHANTED  GARDEN  OF  ZPEK. 

11  Enterprising  young  man,"  he  said,  reach 
ing  forth  his  hands,  "  you  shall  now  marry 
my  daughter." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  replied  Jonathan,  "  I 
shall  now  marry  a  girl  whose  love  for  me 
bears  no  relation  to  treasures  from  Enchant 
ed  Gardens."  As  he  spoke  he  kept  his  eyes 
away  from  Para  Liza  for  fear  of  again  yield 
ing  to  the  spell.  The  banker  clenched  his 
fist,  and  a  fierce  anger  shot  from  his  eyes. 

"  And  as  for  re-establishing  old  gentlemen 
in  business,"  continued  Jonathan,  "  it  is  more 


THE  ENCHANTED  GARDEN  OF  ZPEK.    71 

seemly  that  I  should  assist  my  own  father 
than  lavish  my  fortune  upon  strangers  of 
uncertain  reputation."  Then,  bowing  polite 
ly,  he  turned  and  strode  away. 

When  Dorothy  saw  Jonathan  coming  she 
ran  to  meet  him  with  a  cry  of  joy,  leaving  a 
scorching  flat-iron  upon  her  father's  Sunday 
bosom. 

They  were  soon  after  married  and  lived 
happily  together  in  wealth  and  luxury. 


When  Complacency  and  the  East  Wind 
were  married  they  built  a  village  on  Massa- 
chussets  Bay  and  christened  it  the  Hub  of  the 
Universe.  Their  descendants  are  countless, 
all  possessing,  in  varying  degrees,  the  charac 
teristics  of  their  ancestors.  But,  of  them  all, 
none inheritedtheirpeculiar qualities  in  richer 
fullness  than  Priggie,  the  heroine  of  this  tale. 
She  was  the  perfect  type  ;  the  development 
in  full  flowers. 

One  day,  many  years  ago,  as  she  was  stroll 
ing  along  the  Beverly  shore,  reflecting  sadly 
upon  the  unconventionally  of  the  ocean, 
and  the  general  abandon  and  impropriety  of 
Nature,  she  was  observed  by  two  fairies, 
who,  disguised  as  sand  pipers,  were  strolling 
about  the  beach. 

"  No  mistaking  were  she's  from,"  remarked 
one  of  the  sand  pipers. 


73 


74 


WHY    THE   OCEAN  IS   COLDER. 


THE    YOUNG    MAN    FROM    THE    WEST. 

"Could  anybody  want  to  marry  her?" 
said  the  other. 

"  Possibly." 

"  I  don't  believe  it." 

"Well,  let's  try.  Here's  a  man  coming. 
We'll  hypnotize  him  and  have  some  fun  ! 

He  was  a  Young  Man  from  the  West. 
When  they  cast  their  spell  upon  him,  which 


WHY    THE    OCEAN  IS   COLDER. 


75 


was  a  very  strong  one,  it  worked  with  aston 
ishing  quickness.  He  gazed  rapturously 
upon  the  maiden  ;  then,  after  a  moment's 
indecision,  he  approached  her  hastily,  yet 
timidly,  and  with  quaking  knees.  Remov 
ing  his  hat  he  bowed,  blushed  and  stam 
mered,  but  could  find  no  words  to  express 
his  love. 

Priggie  was  shocked  beyond  expression 
at  being  addressed  by  a  stranger.  Her  thin 
lips  grew  thinner,  and  her  eyes  shot  forth 
a  freezing  light  that  pierced  the  very  mar 
row  of  his  spine.  An  icy  numbness  crept 
upward  to  his  brain.  Like  a  frozen  image 
he  (ell  upon  the  sand.  The  fairies  darted 
to  his  side  and  used  all  there  magic  to  re 
vive  him.  He  soon  recovered,  and  when 
he  stood  up  and  looked  about  him  his  love 


LIKE    A    FROZEN    THING    HE    FELL    UPON    THE    SAND.' 


76 


WHY    THE   OCEAN  IS   COLDER. 


returned,  and,  before  the  fairies  could  re 
strain  him,  he  hurried  after  the  vanished 
Priggie.  She  had  rounded  a  point  not  far 


"  SEEN    WHOM  ?" 

away,  and  for  a  moment  he  feared  he  had 

lost  her.     Seeing  a  gentleman  seated  upon 

a  rock,  he  said  : 

"  Have  you  seen  her  ?  " 

"  Seen  whom  ?" 

"  The  loveliest  woman  in  the  world  !" 

"  I    may  have   seen    her,  but  'twas   years 

ago,  and  further  South." 

"  No,  no  !  I  mean  now,  within  a  minute  ! " 
"  My    friend,"  said    the    gentleman,  "  be 

calm,  and  describe  this  lady,  for  I  have  seen 

several,  and  know  not  which   of  them  you 

mean." 


WHY    THE   OCEAN  IS   COLDER.  77 

"  She  has  a  face  of  intoxicating  beauty," 
explained  the  Young  Man  from  the  West; 
"eyes  that  fill  the  soul  with  Heaven  and 
Hell  at  once  ;  her  eyes  are  to  the  eyes  of 
other  women  as  diamonds  are  to  dirt.  Her 
hair  is  a  golden  dream  ;  her  voice — her  voice 
I  have  never  heard,  but  her  figure  is  a  rav 
ishment  to  the  senses,  a  bewildering  dream 
of  grace.  Have  you  seen  her?" 

"No,  I  have  not  seen  her.  I  passed  a  girl 
a  moment  ago,  but  it  was  quite  another. 
She  had  a  pinched-up,  snobby  face:  was  dis 
tinctly  uninteresting,  and  without  a  particle 
of  style.  There  she  is  now,  standing  on  the 
cliff." 

The  Young  Man  from  the  West,  who  had 
not  listened  to  the  last  few  words,  ex 
claimed: 

"Ah!  'tis  she!"  and  hurried  in  that 
direction.  Throwing  himself  at  her  feet  he 
cried: 

"  Pardon  me,  oh,  beautiful  angel;  but  I 
love  you  more  than  all  in  life.  I— 

"  Stop,  you  unconventional  horror,"  said 
Priggie  in  a  dry,  well  regulated  voice. 
Priggie's  words  were  always  carefully  ar 
ticulated.  "  Do  you  realize  your  presump 
tion  ?  Are  you  aware  that  you  address  a 


78  WHY   1  fJE   OCEAN  IS  COLDER. 

Tchilli-Znubbha  ?  Do  you  forget  that  my 
mother  was  an  Offulznobb." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mind  that  !  "  he  cried,  <:  if 
I  may  only  love  you  !  " 

"  Don't  mind  that !  "  whispered  Priggie 
as  she  tottered  backward,  with  her  hand  to 
her  forehead.  "  Gracious  Heaven  !  can  such 
ignorance  obtain!"  Then  she  repeated 
this  couplet: 

O  Allah,  whoabidest  in  the  Hub  of  the  Universe  ! 
Pardon  the  unpardonable  ignorance  of  this  kneeling 

thing. 

Tho'  immeasurably  beneath  us  in  the  scale  of  Nature, 
Smite  him  not.     His  ignorance  of  holy  things  is 
His  misfortune,  not  his  fault. 

Then,  gazing  pityingly  upon  him,  she 
said  : 

"  Young  man,  know  you  not  that  the 
blood  of  the  Pursyprouds  and  the  Hev- 
vistiles,  runs  in  my  veins  ;  that  I  am  con 
nected  by  marriage  with  the  Pompusprigs, 
the  Ha-Ha-Bloos,  the  Ho-Ho-Bloods,  and 
with  all  the  first  families  of  the  Hub  ?  " 

The  young  man  answered,  "  These  things 
scare  me  not.  I  love  you  for  what  you  are. 
No  taint  of  blood  can  turn  aside  my  love  !  " 

Priggie    looked    upon    him    with    dilated 


WHY    THE   OCEAN  IS   COLDER.  79 

eyes,  then  gasped  and  swooned  away.  Be 
fore  he  could  catch  her,  she  fell  to  the  earth. 
He  raised  her  head  gently  in  his  arms,  and 
finding  her  lips  so  near  his  own  he  put  a 
burning  kiss  upon  them.  Priggie  jumped 
up  as  though  a  bee  had  stung  her.  Spring- 


PRIGGIE    FAINTS. 


ing  to  her  feet  she  drew  her  hand  across  her 
mouth  as  if  to  cast  away  the  profanation, 
then  muttered  with  a  look  of  horror: 

"  Held  in  his  arms,  and  kissed  by  a 
stranger  !  What  death  too  sudden  ?  What 
grave  too  deep?"  Then,  in  a  lower  tone: 
"  The  worst  of  it  is  we  have  been  ob 
served  !  "  Readjusting  her  hat  and  hair,  she 
cast  a  scornful  look  upon  the  Young  Man 
from  the  West,  walked  stiffly  to  the  edge  of 
the  cliff,  and  stepped  over  the  edge.  The 


8o  WHY   THE   OCEAN  IS   COLDER. 

waves  closed  above  her  and  that  was  the  last 
of  Priggie.  The  same  sea  washed  the  edges 
of  the  Hub,  and,  therefore,  knew  it  was  more 
comme  il  faut  to  retain  the  body  than  to  cast 
it  ashore  and  create  a  scene.  And  ever 
since  that  day  the  waters  of  this  north  shore 
have  been  colder  than  at  other  places  along 
the  American  coast. 

It  is  of  no  importance  what  became  of  the 
Young  Man  from  the  West. 


and   The   Usual     Man. 


One  Autumn  morning  as  Katzwynk,  a 
benevolent  but  quick-tempered  brownie,  re 
clined  half  asleep  in  the  hollow  of  a  pumpkin, 
he  was  aroused  by  the  yelping  of  a  dog  as 
if  in  great  pain.  Looking  in  that  directions 
he  saw  the  dog  was  receiving  some  very 
enereetic  kicks  from  an  irascible  haymaker. 

o  *• 

With  every  blow  the  shrinking  dog  cried 
aloud  with  pain,  and  with  each  kick  the  hay 
maker  shouted,  ''Shut  up!"  which  was,  of 
course,  a  difficult  thing  to  do  under  the  cir 
cumstances.  The  dog  all  the  time  kept  his 
eyes  imploringly  upon  his  master  as  if  he 
ought  at  least  to  know  the  reason  of  his 
punishment. 

Katzwynk  was  disgusted  with  the  man's 
brutality  and,  before  realizing  the  impor 
tance  of  the  act,  had  skipped  up  to  them, 
tapped  each  with  his  finger,  and  changed 
one  into  the  other. 

Then  away  he  flew. 

Several  months  passed  by,  and  when  he 
saw  them  again  he  was  surprised  at  the  re- 


82        AVERAGE  DOG  AND  USUAL  MAN. 


THE    IRASCIBLE    HAYMAKER. 

suits  of  his  deed.  The  dog,  who  was  now 
a  man,  had  retained  his  own  nature  and 
became  a  trusty  and  lovable  companion. 
He  was  a  friend  to  whose  fidelity  and  devo 
tion  there  was  absolutely  no  limit.  It  was 
refreshing  to  see  a  human  being  with  a  dog's 
dignity  and  forbearance.  The  man,  on  the 
contrary,  who  was  now  the  dog,  looked 
sharply  after  his  own  interests,  snubbed  the 
unfortunate  dogs,  and  toadied  the  lucky 
ones,  and  cared  little  for  his  master  or  his 


AVERAGE  DOG  AND   USUAL  MAN. 


"THE    MAN,    WHO    WAS    NOW    THK    DOG." 

master's  household  ;  was  often  fretful  and 
suspicious,  his  amiability  depending  appar 
ently  upon  the  state  of  his  digestion.  More 
over  he  was  always  ready  to  yield  to  any 
temptation  that  would  promote  his  personal 
comfort  or  prosperity. 

When  Katzwynk  came  to  know  all  this  he 
related  the  facts  of  the  case  to  the  King  and 
Queen  of  the  fairies,  and  urged  them  to 
change  all  men  into  dogs  and  all  dogs  into 


84        AVERAGE  DOG  AND   USUAL  MAN. 


men;  because,  as  he  argued, 
a  man's  nature  is  so  lament 
ably  inferior  to  that*  of    a 
dog  that  it  is  not  only  un 
fair  but  is 
r     ,.  , 
a      foolish 

waste      of 


good 

material      for 
the     superior 
animal  to  oc 
cupy  such  a    subordinate 
and  unimportant  position. 


AVERAGE  DOG  AND   USUAL  MAN.        85 

The  Queen  was  enthusiastic  over  the 
scheme,  but  the  King  hesitated.  He  finally 
said:  "  The  results  of  such  a  course  would 
undoubtedly  elevate  the  human  race,  but  it 
is  too  important  a  step  to  take  hastily.  We 
will  begin  by  transforming  only  those  who 
are  unkind  to  their  dogs." 

So  the  decree  went  forth,  and  became  a 
custom. 

There  are,  of  course,  cases  where  a  dog  is 
maltreated  and  the  transformation  does  not 
take  place,  but  that  is  only  when  the  fairies 
are  unaware  of  it. 

So  whenever  you  encounter  a  dog  that  is 
selfish,  untrustworthy,  and  suspicious,  you 
may  be  sure  that  he  was  once  a  man. 

And  those  simple,  unassuming  men,  whom 
you  can  trust  with  safety,  are  generally  pure 
dog,  with  no  taint  of  humanity. 


THE    LUCKLESS 
PRINCE. 

ago,    a 

year,  perhaps,  there 
dwelt  in  a  castle  an 
unhappy  prince.  This 
castle  was  beautiful,  with  far-reach 
ing  grounds  and  a  comprehensive 
mortgage.  The  prince  was  very 
fond  of  the  castle  and  would  will 
ingly  make  any  sacrifice,  however 
great,  to  keep  it  from  passing  into 
the  hands  of  his  creditors,  providing, 
of  course,  the  sacrifice  interfered 
with  none  of  his  personal  pleasures. 
For,  being  a  prince,  he  realized,  nat 
urally,  that  he  was  not  like  other 
men. 

One  night  as  he  sat  gloomily  by 
his  ancestral  hearth,  brooding  over 
the  lusty  mortgage,  the  doors  of  the 
apartment  were  swung  open  by  un- 

86 


THE  LUCKLESS  PRINCE,  87 

seen  hands  and  a  tiny  phaeton  came  rolling 
toward  him.  It  was  drawn  by  four  bob-tailed 
squirrels,  driven  by  a  radiant  fairy  scarcely  a 
foot  high,  but  whose  garments  were  of  the 
latest  Parisian  style.  As  she  drew  up  before 
the  prince  she  nodded  jauntily  and  said : 
"  My  off  leader  is  a  balker  or  I  should  have 
been  here  sooner.  What's  the  matter  now  ? 
the  old  trouble?  Need  a  whole  raft  of 
shekels  this  time,  eh  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  prince,  "and  more  than  I 
can  possibly  raise." 

"You  must  marry  'em." 

"  But  none  of  the  rich  girls  will  do  it. 
They  all  know  me." 

"  Marry  an  American.  They  swallow  any 
thing  with  a  title.  Say  the  word,  old  boy, 
and  I'll  see  you  through." 

"  The  best  idea  yet  ! "  exclaimed  the 
prince.  "I'll  do  it." 

"Good  boy!-"  said  the  fairy.  "Next 
time  you  want  me,  play  on  this,"  and,  toss 
ing  him  a  golden  jewsharp,  she  touched  the 
bob-tailed  squirrels  and  whirled  out  of  the 
castle. 

Six  months  afterward  as  he  sat  by  him 
self  in  the  diminutive  solitude  of  his  bed 
room,  at  an  American  summer  hotel,  he 


88  THE  LUCKLESS  PRINCE. 

took  the  golden  jewsharp  from  his  trousers 
pocket  and  tried  to  play  upon  it.  The  noise 
caused  the  machine-made  door  to  open  as  if 
by  magic,  and  again  the  little  fairy  drove 
swiftly  into  the  room.  This  time  she  was 
in  a  golden  dog-cart,  drawn  by  two  exqui 
site  black  and  tans,  less  than  six  inches  high. 
She  drove  tandem. 

"  I  have  tried  my  best,"  said  the  prince, 
"  but  I  can't  do  it.  When  I  meet  a  girl  I  am 
willing  to  marry,  the  parents  object ;  and 
when  the  parents  are  willing,  the  girl  is  a 
terror." 

The  fairy  laughed. 

"  Then,  as  a  rule,  you  don't  fancy  Ameri 
can  girls  ?" 

"  Not  for  matrimony,"  said  the  prince. 
"  But  they  are  good  fun  for  a  summer  flirta 
tion," 

"Don't  you  like  their  gentle  voices,"  said 
the  fairy,  with  a  mischievous  look;  "their 
retiring  manners,  useful  educations,  and  in 
expensive  tastes?" 

The  prince  shuddered.  "  I  hear  their 
voices  now,"  he  said,  "like  knives  in  my 
ears." 

But  the  fairy  became  serious  and  argued 
with  him  long  and  earnestly,  finally  impress- 


THE  LUCKLESS  PRINCE.  89 

ing  upon  him  the  necessity  of  preserving  the 
ancestral  castle.  The  result  was  that  the 
prince  promised  to  try  again,  and  he  soon 
after  married  an  heiress,  enormously  rich  in 
her  own  right,  whose  parents  were  both  dead. 
She  was  a  little  older  than  was  really  neces 
sary,  but  her  clothes  were  above  criticism. 
She  had  only  been  engaged  three  or  four 
times  before  meeting  the  prince,  which,  con 
sidering  her  nationality,  was  rather  unusual. 
But  in  spite  of  all  this  the  prince  had  a 
secret  contempt  for  her,  and  when  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  make  love,  he  would 
remember  the  glorious  old  castle  her  money 
was  to  save. 

Now,  the  prince,  although  possessed  of 
no  unusual  sense  of  humor,  was  playing  an 
excellent  joke  upon  himself.  He  had  neg 
lected,  .perhaps  forgotten,  in  describing  the 
ancestral  residence,  to  tell  her  of  his  finan 
cial  condition.  One  day,  soon  after  their 
wedding,  she  came  to  him  with  a  document 
in  her  hand  and  said,  with  an  anxious  face, 
"  If  I  should  lose  my  fortune,  Princey  dear, 
would  you  still  love  me  just  as  much?" 
Now  the  prince  knew  this  was  an  old  device, 
so  he  drew  her  passionately  to  him  and  said 
with  a  tear  in  his  voice  : 


90  THE   LUCKLESS  PRINCE. 

"  If  your  love,  darling,  is  as  great  as  mine, 
there  could  be  no  place  in  your  heart  for 
suspicion.' 

"You  make  me  very  happy,"  she  said, 
"and  lift  a  great  weight  from  my  heart.  It 
is  very  lucky  for  us,  dearest,  that  you  are 
rich  yourself.  I  ought  to  have  told  you 
earlier,  perhaps,  that  papa  left  a  clause  in 
his  will  saying  that  if  I  married  a  foreigner 
my  share  of  the  estate  should  go  to  my 
brother."  And  as  she  spoke  she  showed 
him  the  document,  and  so  it  was  written. 

The  prince  pushed  her  away  and  was 
about  to  give  vent  to  his  rage,  when  the 
door  opened  and  the  stylish  fairy  came 
prancing  in  upon  a  chestnut  rabbit.  "  Hush  !" 
she  said,  raising  her  tiny  riding  whip  in  the 
air,  "  No  abuse  !  You  have  each  deceived 
the  other  in  a  loathsome  fashion  and  you 
shall  both  be  punished."  So  saying,^  she 
waved  her  whip  toward  the  prince,  and  he 
was  immediately  transformed  into  a  yellow 
Skye.  Then  she  turned  to  the  princess  and 
changed  her  into  a  Persian  cat,  saying : 

"  Every  other  day  you  shall  be  the  dog 
and  the  prince  shall  be  the  cat.  Away  !" 

And  the  dog  flew  at  the  cat,  and  chased  it 
out  into  the  world,  and  they  are  still  after 


THE  LUCKLESS  PRINCE.  91 

each  other.  So  whenever  you  see  a  Skye 
terrier  chasing  a  Persian  cat  you  may  know 
who  they  are ;  but  which  is  the  prince  and 
which  the  princess,  is  known  only  to  the 
stylish  fairy. 


THE     ADVENTURES     OF     TWO 
CRIMINALS. 

Hunky  was  a  bad  boy  and  his  dog 
was    a   bad   dog.      Their    manners, 
morals,    and    antecedents    were 
all    bad.     Hunky's    father    had 
been    hanged    for    murder    and 
his  mother,  at  the  time  of  this 
story,  was  residing  in  a  pub 
lic  institution  as  a  common 
drunkard. 

Grips,  although  he  looked 
like  a  bull  dog,  was  of  varied 
and  confusing  ancestry.  His 
expression  was  blase  and  dissipated. 

Both  Hunky  and  Grips  had  brusque, 
unvarnished  manners,  ugly  faces,  crooked 
legs,  and  hoarse  voices.  Their  past  experi 
ence  was  such  as  to  make  them  suspicious 
of  everything  except  each  other.  Hunky 
had  inherited  several  tendencies  that  were 
actively  discouraged  by  the  police  ;  but 
crime  possessed  no  terrors  for  Grips  and 
he  had  stuck  by  him  through  thick  and 
thin.  Hunky  was  a  liar  and  a  thief.  Grips 
was  a  thief  and  a  bully  ;  with  the  power  of 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS.        93 

speech  he  would  probably  have  been  a  more 
expert  liar  than  his  master. 

One  morning  in  May,  when  neither  had 
eaten  anything  since  the  previous  noon, 
they  stopped  in  front  of  a  grocer's  just  to 
look  at  the  display  and  realize  what  fun 
there  was  in  store  for  those  who  were  to  eat 
it.  As  an  old  gentleman,  who  happened  to 
be  beside  him,  took  out  a  handful  of  money 
to  pay  for  his  purchases,  Hunky's  empty 
stomach  furnished  him  the  courage  for  a 
daring  deed.  With  his  brain  dazzled  by  the 
ice  cream  and  cocoanut  cakes  those  bills 
would  buy,  arid  the  pounds  of  raw  meat 
they  would  procure  for  Grips,  he  snatched 
them  and  darted  away.  As  he  rounded  the' 
nearest  corner  with  the  cry  of  "  Stop  thief !  " 
in  his  ears,  he  ran  straight  into  the  arms  of 
a  policeman.  In  vain  he  struggled  to  get 
away.  Grips  realized  the  necessity  of  im 
mediate  action,  and  fastened  himself  with 
painful  enterprise  upon  a  tender  portion 
of  the  public  guardian.  Swiftly  were  the 
fingers  loosened  from  Hunky's  collar;  and 
the  latter,  knowing  that  Grips  had  always 
been  able  to  look  out  for  himself,  vanished 
from  the  scene  with  the  celerity  and  skill 
which  are  gained  only  by  experience.  The 


94       ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS. 

report  of  a  pistol,  however,  told  him  the 
worst  had  happened. 

He  afterward  got  possession  of  the  body 
and  gave  it  a  decent  burial.  In  the  soap 
box,  which  served  as  a  coffin,  he  laid  the 
stolen  purse  with  its  contents,  so  that  Grips, 
in  another  world,  might  secure  the  nourish 
ment  he  had  so  often  missed  in  this  one. 
As  he  was  gently  patting  down  the  fresh 
earth  upon  the  grave  and  making  no  efforts 
to  suppress  his  grief,  he  heard  someone 
say : 

"  Phwat  are  yez  that  blue  about  ?  " 

Turning  his  head  he  saw  beside  him  a 
strange  little  figure,  too  small  even  for  a 
dwarf. 

"  I  am  sorry  about  Grips." 

"  Phwat's  the  matther  wid  him  ?  " 

"  He's  dead." 

"Begorra,  that's  something!"  said  the 
little  figure. 

"  An'  that  aint  the  worst  of  it,"  said 
Hunky,  "for  I  want  to  foller  him  an*  I 
dunno  where  he  is." 

"  I  wish  I  could  tell  yez,"  said  the  short 
one,  "  but,  bedad  !  it's  a  tough  one  ter 
answer.  Howld  on  tho',  I  have  an  idea. 
The  head  of  the  Church  knows  everything." 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS.        95 

And  as  Hunky 
watched  him  he  grew 
taller  and  taller,  his 
clothes  became  rich 
and  ample,  a  tiara 
sprouted  upon  his 
head,  and,  lo !  he 
was  a  pope.  Hunky 
had  never  seen  a 
pope  before  and  was  very  much  astonished. 
The  pope  laughed  at  his  amazement  and 
said: 

"  We've  got  wisdom  by  the  scruff  o'  the 
neck,  now,  be  jabers !  Tell  us  about  yer 
friend.  Was  he  a  Roman  Catholic  ?  " 

"  I  dunno." 

"  Yer  dunno  whether  he  belonged  to  the 
Church  or  not  ?  " 

"  No.  He  didn't  belong  to  nothin' — ex 
cept  me." 

"  Did  he  never  go  to  mass,  or  confess, 
or  attind  howly  service,  or  any  o'  them 
things?  " 

"  No." 

"  Then  it's  a  slim  show  for  heaven  he  has, 
bad  'cess  to  him  !  He's  down  below." 

"In  hell?" 

"  Sure." 


96        ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS. 

"  Good  !  "  said  Hunky. 
"  Then  he  was  no  friend  to  yez?" 
"  Wasn't    he    though  !     Only  one  I  had. 
But  I  want  ter  foller  him  an'  they'd  never 
take  me  inter  heaven." 

"Oi'm  not  sure  o'  that,"  said  the  pope; 
"children  have  a  chance.  But  I  have 
another  idea.  Oi'll  excommunicate  yez, 
and  ye'll  go  to  hell  sure." 

So  he  excommunicated  him,  and  then 
returned  to  his  original  shape.  Hunky 
thanked  him  and  they  separated,  each  going 
his  own  way. 

Hunky   had   not    traveled   far  before  he 
met  an  old  lady,  with  curls  and  spectacles, 
who  asked  him  whither  he  was  hurrying. 
"I'm  goin'  ter  hell,"  said  Hunky. 
"  Mercy  on  us  ?  "    exclaimed  the  old  lady 
as   she   threw  up  her  hands,   and   quivered 
with    excitement  ;      "  What    takes 
you  there?" 

"  My  best  friend  has 
gone  on  ahead,  an*  I'm 
a  hurryin*  ter  join  *im." 
"  But  how  do  you 
know  he  is  there  and 
not  in  heaven  ?  " 

"  He  wasn't  a  Cath- 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS.        97 

olic,"  said  Hunky,  "  and  it's  only  them  as 
goes  to  heaven." 

"  Sakes  alive !  "  gasped  the  old  lady. 
"  Is  that  official  ?  " 

"  Straight  from  the  pope,"  said  Hunky, 
and  he  hurried  on  toward  the  river.  As  he 
ran  out  on  the  wharf  he  passed  very  near  a 
barrel  standing  end  up,  on  the  top  of  which 
were  four  fairies  playing  poker. 

They  all  looked  up  as  he  came  by,  and 
asked  what  was  the  matter. 

"  I'm  a-goin'  to  join  Grips,"  said  Hunky. 

"  Is  he  in  the  river?  "  they  all  asked. 

"No;  he's  in  hell." 

"  I  don't  believe  it,"  said  one  of  the  fairies, 
who  was  a  Universalist ;  "  There  is  no  hell. 
It's  your  ante,  Pinklegs." 

"  Yes,  there  is,"  said  Hunky,  "  and  Grips 
is  in  it." 

"  He  must  have  been  a  pretty  tough 
character  from  your  being  so  sure.  Was  he 
a  murderer,  or  just  a  burglar  ?  " 

"O'  course  he  wasn't,"  said   Hunky. 

"  Was  he  married  ?  "  asked  a  very  young 
fairy  who  had  recently  become  engaged. 

"  Oh,  ya-a-s,"  said  Hunky,  in  a  sarcastic 
tone;  "dogs  is  given  ter  gitten  married." 

u  Oh,  he  was  a  dog,  was  he?  "  they  all  ex- 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS. 


claimed,  and  thereupon  laughed  hilariously, 
but  all  the  time  keeping  on  with  the  game. 
One  of  them,  Beesbelly  by  name,  lost  his 
equilibrium  in  a  fit  of  mirth  and  tumbled 
over  backward.  Being  a  fairy  of  great 
presence  of  mind,  he 
turned  quickly  into  a  rub 
ber  ball  when  he  felt  him 
self  going  and  bounced 
harmlessly  up  again  on 
striking  the  wharf.  Re 
suming  his  usual  shape  as 
he  neared  the  top  of  the 
barrel  on  the  return  bound, 
he  slid  back  into  his  old  seat, 
took  up  his  cards  and  went  on  with 
the  game  as  if  no  interruption 
had  occurred. 

"  Dogs  have  no  souls,"  one  of  them  ex 
plained  to  Hunky.  "  When  they  are  dead 
that's  the  end  of  'em.  They  don't  go  any 
where.  Ten  better,  Bulby." 

"  Grips  was  a  special  kind  o'  dog,"  said 
Hunky.  "  He  must'er  gone  somewhere." 

"  No.  Dead  dogs  are  dead,  and  that's 
the  end  of  'em." 

Hunky  was  so  unhappy  upon  hearing  this 
that  the  fairy  felt  a  great  pity  for  him,  and 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS.        99 

as  Hunky  turned  and  walked  dejectedly 
away,  he  cried  out  to  him,  "The  first  wish 
you  utter  shall  be  granted,  so  be  careful !  " 

But  Hunky  was  absorbed  by  his  grief 
at  the  thought  of  never  seeing  his  old  pal 
again,  and  the  world  seemed  such  a  deso 
late  blank  without  him,  that  he  did  not  hear 
what  the  fairy  had  promised.  In  his  loneli 
ness  and  despair  he  curled  up  in  a  doorway, 
and  pulling  his  cap  over  his  eyes,  muttered, 
"  Wisht  'er  was  dead." 

A  few  minutes  later  a  little  crowd  gath 
ered  about  the  doorsteps  as  a  policeman 
lifted  in  his  arms  the  lifeless  body  of  a 
ragged,  red-headed  urchin  and  bore  it  ten 
derly  away. 

There  were  echoes  of  distant  music  in 
the  air  when  Hunky  opened  his  eyes  upon 
the  golden  glories  about  him.  He  stood 
among  a  group  who,  like  himself,  seemed 
just  arrived,  but  all  the  others  had  happy 
faces  as  they  gazed  in  wonder  upon  the 
splendors  that  encompassed  them. 

Standing  near  him  was  an  imposing  per 
sonage  clad  in  white  and  gold.  As  he 
seemed  to  be  one  of  the  officers  of  the  vast 
palace,  Hunky  went  over  to  him  and  said : 
"  Soy,  Mister,  what  place  is  dis?" 


ioo     ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS. 

"  These  are  the  realms  of  eternal 

joy-" 

"  'Taint  where  I  wanted   to  go." 
The     imposing      personage 
looked    down    at    him    in    sur 
prise. 

I  wanted    to    be  with 
Grips." 

"  Grips  ?"  said  the 
man  in  white,  and 
then,  as  if  trying 
to  recall  something: 
"  Grips — Grips.  Is 
that  a  dog?" 

"Yes,  my  dog," 
said  Hunky. 

"  I  think  he  came 
this  morning,"  said 
the  man  in  white,  and  pointing  down  the  hall 
said:  "You  see  the  fifth  arch  on  the  right 
with  ruby  columns  and  silver  doors?  Well, 
I  saw  him  turn  in  there  not  ten  minutes 
ago." 

Hunky  started  off  on  a  run.  When  he 
reached  the  fifth  arch  he  looked  through 
upon  a  beautiful  garden,  all  gay  with  flowers 
and  splashing  fountains,  and  there,  in  a  pen 
sive  attitude,  was  Grips,  gazing  listlessly 


ADVENTURES  OF  TWO  CRIMINALS.      IOI 


-.-*•    «* 


upon    the    beauties    before    him. 

Hunky     whistled  ;      Grips 

started,  turned  his  head, 

gave  a  cry  of  joy,  then 

bounded       over      the 

grass  as   if  shot  from 

a    cannon.      He    flew 

into      Hunky's      arms 

with  such  force  as  to 

knock  him   backward, 

and    they   rolled    over 


and     over    among    the    flow-   '!*»? 

ers.     Grips   seemed  crazy  with       «/£*'•'     J^SJ* 

joy. 

They  never  parted  again  and  are  still  liv 
ing  happily  together. 


vW//'  w^  —  35^ 

JMSSOLUT 
CETLC 


Lotzofun's  father  was  one  of  the  most 
influential  beetles  in  the  vast  garden  where 
he  resided.  The  son,  also,  could  have 
been  prosperous  and  respected  if  he  had 
only  behaved  himself;  but  he  was  too  fond 
of  pleasure.  When  the  beautiful  Scarabella 
became  his  bride  they  had  every  prospect 
of  a  long  and  happy  life.  Scarabella's  father 
gave  them  a  flower-pot  in  the  greenhouse 
for  a  winter  residence,  and  in  summer  they 
occupied  a  pond  lily  on  the  neighboring 
lake.  But  they  had  been  married  a  very 
short  time  when  Lotzofun  took  to  flying 
about  after  dark  and  being  very  attentive 
to  the  belles  of  the  neighborhood.  There 


THE  DISSOLUTE  BEETLE.  103 

was  scarcely  an  attractive  damsel  of  the 
beetle  tribe  for  acres  about  to  whom  the 
festive  Lotzofun  had  not  whispered  words 
of  love.  Night  after  night  he  would  sit  in 
the  light  of  the  moon  with  an  arm  about 
the  waist  of  a  beetle  belle,  ignoring  his  mar 
riage  vows  and  without  a  thought  for  the 
gentle  Scarabella,  who  sat  waiting  for  him 
at  home. 

At  other  times,  and  at  hours  when  order- 
loving  bugs  were  sound  asleep,  he  would 
join  a  gang  of  drunken  revelers  and  make 
night  hideous  with  his  pranks.  All  this 
was  very  hard  for  Scarabella.  She  pleaded 
with  him  and  beseeched  him  to  mend  his 
ways,  but  in  vain.  He  became  sullen  and 
irritable  when  at  home,  and  his  beetle  brows 
would  darken  at  any  suggestion  of  reform 
and  early  hours. 

One  night,  after  sitting  up  for  him  until 
long  after  twelve  o'clock,  she  went  forth,  as 
she  had  often  done  before,  in  the  wild  hope 
that  she  might  find  him  and  lead  him  home. 
A  long  time  she  wandered,  but  in  vain,  for 
the  night  was  dark,  the  world  was  wide,  and 
Lotzofun  was  wily.  Weary  and  sad,  she  at 
last  crawled  under  a  strawberry  leaf  to  rest 
her  wings  and  have  a  gentle  cry.  The  gentle 


104  THE  DISSOLUTE   BEETLE. 

cry  had  a  soothing  effect,  for  she  soon  fell 
asleep.  Her  nap  was  short.  A  very  few 
moments  had  passed  before  she  was  awakened 
by  the  sound  of  voices  coming  from  the 
upper  side  of  the  leaf  above  her  head. 
From  the  words  that  reached  her  ear,  it  was 
very  evident  that  two  lovers  were  there,  and 
very  close  together.  Poor  Scarabella  re- 
called  the  happy  hours  that  she  and  her 
once  faithful  adorer  had  spooned  away  in 
similar  fashion.  But  it  seemed  unfair  to  be 
overhearing  such  a  conversation,  and  she 
had  just  resolved  to  steal  silently  away, 
when  the  lover  above  raised  his  voice  in  an 
unusually  passionate  declaration  of  love, 
and  it  sent  cold  shivers  up  and  down  her 
diminutive  spine.  She  listened  again,  and 
then  was  sure.  Darting  from  beneath  the 
leaf  she  turned  about  and  faced  them.  In 
the  dim  light  they  seemed  like  one  be 
ing,  so  close  were  they  together.  But 
there  he  was,  the  faithless  Lotzofun ! 

It  was  a  lively  and  painful  scene  that  fol 
lowed.  The  lady  on  the  leaf  was  shocked 
to  find  her  lover  married.  Lotzofun  was 
naturally  embarrassed. 

As  for  Scarabella,  she  had  suddenly  de 
veloped  into  a  different  creature.  All  gen- 


THE  DISSOLUTE  BEETLE. 


I05 


tleness  and  forbearance  seemed  to  have 
gone  forever.  The  explanations  and  prom 
ises  of  Lotzofun  were  naturally  of  little 
value  and  produced  no  impression  whatever. 


A     PAINFUL     SCENE. 


After  a  few  emphatic  remarks,  all  short  and 
direct  to  the  point,  she  turned  her  back  and 
flew  quickly  away.  She  did  not  go  home, 
but  made  straight  for  the  spacious  crack 
under  the  Corinthian  porch,  where  her 


io6 


THE   DISSOLUTE  BEETLE. 


father    resided,    and     gave     him     all     the 
facts. 

The  next  morning  there  was  a  meeting  of 
the  leading  beetles, 
at  which  it  was  al 
most  unanimously 
resolved  that  Lotz- 
ofun  should  be  for 
mally  drowned.  He 
had  long  been  looked 
upon  as  a  danger  to 
the  morals  of  the 
community,  and 
every  father  of  a 
winsome  daughter 
voted  promptly  for  his  death.  At  this 
dreadful  sentence,  however,  Scarabella 
softened  and  begged  piteously  for  his 
life.  She  entreated  so  earnestly  and  her 
grief  was  so  heartrending  that  this  wish  was 
finally  granted  ;  but  they  caused  his  wings 
to  be  treated  by  a  neighboring  wizard  in 
such  a  manner  that  whenever  he  flew  about 
after  dark  he  shed  a  brilliant  light.  This 
was  a  happy  idea,  as  it  warned  everybody  of 
his  approach  and  at  the  same  time  enabled 
Scarabella  to  hunt  him  up  with  less  diffi 
culty.  He  reformed  after  this  and  they 


SHE  TELLS  ALL  TO  HER  FATHER. 


THE  DISSOLUTE  BEETLE. 


107 


lived  happily  together,  and  had  innumerable 
children,  all  of  whom  inherited  the  illumi 
nating  qualities  of  their  father. 

So  when  you  see  them  darting  about  of 
a  summer's  night,  you  will  easily  recognize 
them  as  the  descendants  of  Lotzofun. 


THE    ENCHANTED    PORTRAIT. 

Far  away  in  the  State  of  Maine,  there 
stands  a  fine  old  colonial  mansion.  It  is 
out  of  repair  now,  but  you  can  see  what  a 
pleasant  home  it  must  have  been  for  Hester, 
the  little  girl  who  formerly  dwelt  there. 
When  her  parents  died,  the  old  house  and 
all  it  contained  was  sold  to  strangers. 
Everything  went  to  pay  her  father's  debts, 
but  of  all  the  heirlooms,  the  one  she  most 
regretted  to  part  with  was  the  full-length 
portrait  of  an  ancestor  in  Continental  uni 
form.  Hester  always  regarded  the  old 
General  with  the  deepest  affection,  and  it 
seemed  to  her  that  he  never  failed  to  return 
her  glances  with  a  jovial  smile.  His  face 
was  round  and  rosy,  and  it  was  evident  from 
his  mellow  eye  and  cheerful  nose  that  he 
and  port  had  been  the  fastest  friends.  He 
must  have  been  an  important  personage,  if 
one  could  judge  by  his  blue  and  buff  coat 
with  gold  facings.  One  hand  was  on  the 
hilt  of  his  sword,  the  other  held  a  folded 
paper,  and  Hester  used  to  wonder  what  was 
written  on  it.  But  the  rosy  General  was 
sold  with  everything  else. 


THE    ENCHANTED    PORTRAIT. 


THE  ENCHANTED   PORTRAIT.         Hi 

The  distant  relatives  with  whom  Hester 
went  to  live  as  governess  resided  in  the 
golden  city  of  Manhattan.  They  were  very 
wealthy  and  received  her  as  cordially  as  the 
immeasureable  social  gulf  between  them 
would  permit. 

Now  a  great  surprise  was  in  store  for 
Hester.  The  day  after  her  arrival  she  had 
occasion  to  enter  the  palatial  drawing  room 
of  her  new  home,  and  there,  to  her  amaze 
ment  and  joy,  she  saw  the  old  General  on  the 
wall.  She  was  very  happy  and  at  once  felt 
more  at  home.  But  the  General  seemed 
to  have  changed  since  last  they  met.  She 
noticed  that  his  eyes,  instead  of  meeting  hers 
with  the  old-time  smile,  looked  coldly  over 
her  head  and  with  a  much  less  amiable  ex 
pression.  She  soon  found,  however,  that 
when  they  were  alone  he  beamed  pleasantly 
upon  her,  but  immediately  resumed  hii, 
haughty  and  far-away  look  when  any  of  the 
family  entered  the  room.  The  only  reason 
she  could  think  of  for  such  conduct  was  that 
he  objected  to  being  taken  for  an  ancestor  of 
the  family,  although  as  a  family  they  were 
aristocratic  enough  for  any  ancestor.  They 
wallowed  in  style  and  were  reeking  with 
fashion.  For  all  that  is  pompous  and  hollow 


112          THE   ENCHANTED   PORTRAIT. 

they  had  a  deep  and  honest  reverence.  But 
this  was  not  true  of  the  eldest  son,  whose 
simple  tastes  and  honest  instincts  were  a  per 
petual  mortification  to  his  mother.  He  also 
had  the  good  taste  to  fall  deeply  in  love  with 
Hester  the  first  time  they  met. 

On  Christmas  eve  there  was  a  great  dinner 
at  the  house,  and  all  the  members  of  this 
complacent  family  were  there,  and,  also,  sev 
eral  others  related  to  them  by  marriage ; 
and  even  others  who  were  not  related.  But 
all  were  prosperous  and  comme  il  faut,  and 
absolutely  correct  in  manner  and  deportment 
according  to  the  latest  information  from 
abroad.  Consequently  they  were  startingly 
original  and  interesting.  After  dinner  the 
eldest  son  followed  Hester  into  the  library, 
and  when  he  asked  her  to  be  his  wife  she 
could  not  say  him  nay,  for  her  heart  was 
already  his.  As  the  library  was  dimly 
lighted,  they  observed  the  ceremonies  that 
usually  attend  occasions  of  this  nature  ;  after 
which  he  led  her  into  the  palatial  drawing 
room  where  all  the  family  and  guests  were 
assembled.  Then  he  announced  the  good 
tidings.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  them  and 
it  was  a  very  embarrassing  moment  for 
Hester.  After  her  lover  had  made  the 


THK   ENCHANTED   PORTRAIT.         113 


114          THE   ENCHANTED  PORTRAIT. 


A  CRUEL  SNUB  FROM  THE  FAMILY. 

announcement  there  was  a  chilling  silence. 
Her  embarrassment  became  an  agony,  and 
she  tottered  and  nearly  sank  to  the  floor 
when  the  haughty  father  said  slowly,  with  a 
contemptuous  expression  : 


THE  ENCHANTED  PORTRAIT.          115 

"  Never,  with  my  consent,  shall  you  marry 
one  so  far  beneath  you." 

Then  the  outraged  mother,  her  face  flushed 
with  anger,  exclaimed  : 

"  Never,  with  my  consent,  shall  you  dis 
grace  your  family  by  such  a  mesalliance  !  " 

By  this  time  all  the  mothers  of  marriage- 
able  sons  had  fixed  their  despising  gaze 
angrily  upon  the  blushing  girl.  The  hot 
blood  rushed  to  her  face.  Her  knees  were 
bending  beneath  her  and  the  whole  room 
began  to  swim  about,  when  she  was  recalled 
to  consciousness  by  an  astounding  sight. 
As  her  appealing  eyes  sought  instinctively 
those  of  her  old  friend  on  the  wall,  she  saw 
him  turn  his  eyes  toward  the  wealthy  parents 
and  reach  forth  his  hand.  To  the  wonder 
ment  of  all  present  he  stepped  from  his 
gilded  frame  upon  the  sofa  beneath  him  and 
then  to  the  floor. 

"  A  disgrace  to  your  family,  I  under 
stand  ?  "  he  said,  with  a  contemptuous  smile. 
Then  approaching  the  trembling  maiden,  he 
placed  in  her  hand  the  paper  he  had  guarded 
for  so  many  years. 

"  As  my  rightful  heir  and  only  relative  I 
give  you  this,  and  with  it  my  blessing." 
Turning  to  the  erstwhile  haughty  but  now 


THE   ENCHANTED  PORTRAIT.          H? 

mortified  parents,  and  pointing  to  the 
empty  picture  frame,  he  said  : 

"  Allow  me  to  present  to  you  the  real 
founder  of  your  house." 

And  there  in  the  gilded  frame  stood  a 
vulgar,  hardfaced  man,  shabbily  dressed, 
and  with  no  dignity  in  his  bearing. 

When  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  com 
pany  sought  again  the  rosy  General  they 
sought  in  vain.  He  had  vanished,  and 
never  more  was  he  seen  in  that  dwelling. 
The  mysterious  document  proved  to  be 
the  title  to  a  rich  estate,  and  Hester  and 
her  husband  became  at  once  enormously 
wealthy  and  lived  happily  together  ever 
afterward. 

The  rosy  General,'  followed  them  to  their 
new  house  and  always  occupied  the  place 
of  honor  on  the  wall. 

No  human  power  could  remove  the  un 
dignified  progenitor  from  the  palatial  draw 
ing  room,  and  he  stands  there  to  this  day. 
The  house  of  course  is  deserted  and  filled 
with  cobwebs,  for  no  family  with  social  am 
bitions  can  associate  on  equal  terms  with 
such  an  ancestor. 


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